The Black Rose
Chapter II
Severus had blacked out for an instant from the pain and torture that he had suffered to only open his eyes again in the warm confines of his bed with his wife bathing his forehead with a cool cloth so soothe him. He so desperately wanted to slip back into the painless comfort of sleep but gazing upon his beautiful wife was also calming him and he was unsure that he could sleep without nightmares.
As her husband slipped in and out of consciousness, Domenica had stripped him of his bloody clothes and covered him with warm, soft blankets and tended to his wounds, dressing them and washing him up to eliminate any trace of what had happened to him that night. She sat beside him, keeping her vigil over him as she wished for him to at least try to get some sleep. Morning light was only a few short hours away and she knew that sleeping during the day light hours was near impossible for Severus. She took out her wand and charmed the curtains to keep them closed, making the room pitch dark even in the brightest sunlight and then held her husband safely in her arms as she muttered a small spell to ease him into a restful sleep, ignoring her own suffering for at least one night.
Morning had come all too soon and the last thing Domenica wanted to see right now was the damned sun but there was no way to avoid it. Severus still slept soundly, not even stirring. She pulled the blankets up further around him and hoped he would sleep for quite sometime even though she knew her husband well enough to know full well that he would not have his Potions classes cancelled unless he was half dead.
Domenica removed herself from the bed and headed into the bathroom to bathe and dress for the day. After her hot shower, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror and she almost did not recognize herself. Pale skin, nearly white, was now her complexion. A far cry from the sun kissed complexion she had while in school from Quidditch. Dark circles were under her eyes from stress and lack of sleep but it was nothing that couldn't be covered by make-up. Her dark brown eyes had a haunted look to them like one who has seen death far too many time for their own good. She pushed those thoughts aside for now as she dressed in her black robes. Far more expensive and feminine that her husband's but still flowed behind her to make her look dangerous like waves of ink. She brushed out her long, dark brown, wavy hair down her back and applied her dark eye shadow, eyeliner and blood-red lipstick. She gazed at the woman transformed and only a few words came to mind. Death…fearsome…Slytherin. When had she become death's mistress? When had Gryffindor red changed to black instead?
To dwell on the past meant to miss the future and the future was her children and she needed to get them breakfast before classes began for the day. She walked into each of her children's rooms and saw House Elves had already gotten them up and dressed and Balthazar and Andronica were smiling and waiting for their mother.
"We're going to eat in the Great Hall this morning with everyone else so we don't wake Daddy. Okay?" she spoke to them gently as she knelt down to be at their level. Her children jumped at the occasion and started out the door as soon as she finished speaking. Domenica quickly caught up to her children and took their hands and walked them into the Great Hall.
Most of the students and professors were already in the room, but it was a warm and relaxed atmosphere. Domenica gazed among the students tables and couldn't help but smile when she saw Harry and his friends. Guilt still plagued her and she wished that if there was something she could do for that sweet boy it would be bringing his parents back for him.
"Now if you two are good for Mommy, I will let you sit with the students…any table you want as long as you don't bother them." Domenica told her smiling children. Balthazar looked to Andronica and with one look they walked over to the Gryffindor Table and climbed up next to Harry and started chattering up a storm. Domenica smiled that they headed right for her old house but she dreaded what would happen in six years when Balthazar became a student and the son of the Head of Slytherin was sorted into Gryffindor. What a scene that would be.
Soon the joyousness of breakfast had passed and classes were soon to begin. Domenica and her children headed back down to the Slytherin dungeon and found Severus, out of bed, dressed, and shakily walking towards the door with steadfast determination. All Domenica could do was mutter a quick charm to make him appear somewhat alive and walk with him and their two children to their respective classes, Balthazar with his father and Andronica with her mother.
Now there was seldom an occasion when either Severus or Domenica would not have one or both of their children with them. Severus Snape may be a bastard to his students but as a father…there wasn't anything he would not do for his children. When his children were taking their first steps within the confines of his classroom, every cauldron was moved back and made as safe as possible. If they had got hurt, any student that may have even had the slightest cause in the matter would face Hell's fury as his crying child was quickly comforted.
But then there were times in which it was simply too dangerous for Balthazar and Andronica to be in either classroom due to a complex potion or spell, then they were left with a house elf as their baby sitter. One time though…they should have never have left them.
One day in late October, Domenica had been instructing her class with the powers of fire and she did not want her children getting burned. She had suggested to Severus to have them with him for the day but since he was instructing his fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins on how to brew a complex sleeping potion, that could turn poisonous if not done exactly to the letter, he could not watch them. All day both had been feeling that something was not right and they just could not shake it. Then their worst fears had come true when two frantic house elves, risking their own lives for their charges, burst into the respective classrooms.
"I be very sorry to burst in here but something just took the baby…" each elf said to the now horrified parent.
As if acting in complete sync, both Domenica and Severus dismissed their classes and ran back down to their quarters.
The rooms that housed the Head of house and his family had been completely torn apart. Cushions had been torn and strewn about, books torn and tossed around the room, glass broken and strewn about and blood on the fabrics of the furniture. Domenica gasped in horror as she tried to keep from screaming out in angry tears while Severus found himself unable to breathe. Their children had been ripped from their very home – where they were supposed to be safe and away from harm – how could they find a way to live when all they had fought and bled for was now gone?
Silent tears rolled down Domenica's cheeks as she mechanically moved to rebuild their living quarters when a clue was found. She lifted a couch cushion and found a small parchment with lettering scrawled in blood…but whose blood? She gasped as she read it and then handed it to Severus. He read it slowly to understand every word in his emotional state.
"To those who have defied me:
You have very few joys in this world and I have taken them all. One continues to lie to my face while the other refused me. This will no longer happen or your children's corpses will be sent back to you. Come to Knockturn Alley on tomorrow's eve and you will be told more. Ignore me again and you will pay dearly.
V"
"We have no choice," Severus said flatly, trying to keep any remaining control of his emotions that still remained.
"Then tomorrow…this ends," Domenica replied as she wiped her tears away and stood in the elegant manner that she had grown to adopt. This battle would go on no longer.