Disclaimer: I only own the plot, Katya, and what ever else you don't recognize as belonging to J.K. Rowling.
A/N: *teehee* Well, it's finally here! (Actually it's been on my computer for the last two weeks waiting for me to get to it.) The chappy you've all been waiting for. Yes, I know I'm evil, but I promise I wouldn't have killed Katya if I didn't have a way of making everything better. I hope you don't think the way I fix everything is too dumb. I personally think it's quite ingenious (not that I'm biased or anything) My favorite part about it is that I was foreshadowing it even before the idea came to me. Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers: Beryl, xue rui chi, carpathia, zoheb I still appreciate your reviews even if you think I'm evil. :) Well enjoy!
~ Nine Lives ~
Severus groaned as he felt a bright light pass over him. Slowly opening his eyes he blinked in the early morning light. They had to put me in a bed next to the window. Wait, why am I in the hospital wing? I thought I was dead. Instantly the memories of the death eater meeting came racing back to his mind in vivid detail. The torturing of Potter, the discovery of his (Severus's) betrayal, a flash of green light, Katya's body crumpling to the ground . . .
"Katya!" he cried sitting up quickly. A spell of dizziness came over him and he gripped the rails on the sides of his bed. "Katya!" he cried out again. It couldn't be true, it just couldn't! Not Katya, if one of them had to die why not him? He deserved to die after the horrible things he had done. "Katya!"
"Severus!" Madame Pomfrey exclaimed entering the room, "What's wrong?"
"Where is she?" he asked wild-eyed, "Where is Katya?!"
Madame Pomfrey gave him a pitying look, "I'm sorry Severus, but Professor Poiston is gone. . ."
"No!" he interrupted, "No, she can't be dead. She can't!"
"Sev . . ."
"Just leave me alone Poppy!" he interrupted again. How am I supposed to go on without Katya?
"Severus will you please listen to me?" Poppy said exasperatedly.
"No, I don't want to talk about it."
Poppy looked heavenward, Why do men have to be so difficult?
Severus closed his eyes in hopes that Madame Pomfrey would leave. A few moments later he heard the rustle of her robes as she left.
"Hello Poppy, how's our patient?" he heard a soft voice ask.
"He's fine Professor Dumbledore. Of course, he's been unconscious for about a week. But he's heartbroken. I tried to tell him about her but he won't listen."
"That's fine Poppy. Perhaps it's best that we let him find out for himself."
What were they talking about? What had happened to Katya's body? Surely they hadn't buried her without him. But then, maybe that was for the best. The last thing he needed was to break down in front of the students.
"Severus," a soft voice called. Severus ignored it. "Severus," it said, this time firmer. Reluctantly he opened his eyes. Dumbledore was standing over him.
"What do you want Albus?"
"I just thought you'd like to know that Voldemort is dead. Completely and utterly gone."
"He's dead?" Severus asked, It figures, now that I'm free of him Katya's gone. "But how can that be? How can you know he's completely gone?"
Dumbledore smiled, "Look at your left arm."
Severus lifted his arm and pulled back the sleeve. The dark mark gone.
"All the dark marks disappeared off death eaters' arms after he was killed. I don't think that would have happened if he was going to come back."
"That must make it very hard for you to find the death eaters," Severus commented.
Dumbledore touched his wand to Snape's arm and muttered a spell. A faint, red outline of the dark mark appeared where it had been. "All it takes is saying a simple spell to make it reappear for a short while. You can never entirely get rid of it, but at least no one can see it without the spell."
"How did he die?"
"The same way he died the last time." Dumbledore replied.
"Harry Potter?"
"No," Albus said, "love"
"Love?"
"Yes, the love Katya had for you. The love that caused her to risk her own life to save yours. It was more powerful than the love Lily had for Harry. I know without a doubt that Lily loved Harry but, as his mother, she had somewhat of an obligation to love him. Does that make sense?"
"Yes, but I still don't see how Katya . . ."
"With Katya there was no obligation. There was no reason why she should love you, but she did. And her love was so great that she died for you without a thought for her own safety. I find it rather amusing that Voldemort fell for the same use of old magic."
"What does the wizarding population think brought Voldemort down?" Severus asked trying not to think of Katya.
Dumbledore chuckled, "They think it was Harry Potter, of course. I let them believe it. I figured you might not want that much fame."
Severus smiled wryly, "No, I wouldn't. Besides the boy has been destined to destroy Voldemort since he was one. Not some professor of potions."
"That's the spirit. Well, I must go before I'm late to dinner. Goodbye."
"Goodbye Albus" he replied to the headmaster's retreating back.
Severus absentmindedly picked at his blanket. It was wonderful that Voldemort was gone, but so was Katya. Severus was sure he would eventually be able to move on with his life without Katya. But what if he didn't want to?
* * *
Dear Journal,
I'm in the hospital right now, a muggle hospital no less. I'm here hiding from the death eaters. At least, that's what Dumbledore tells me. Voldemort used the Avada Kedavra curse on me. Well, actually he was trying to kill Sev, but I ran in front of Sev trying to keep him alive. Anyway, Dumbledore checked me into a muggle hospital. No one knows I'm here besides Albus and Poppy. As I understand it everyone else thinks I'm extremely ill. Well, except for Severus, he still thinks I'm dead. I guess he refuses to come out of his dungeons and missed the announcement Dumbledore gave the students and faculty. And he refuses to speak to anyone. Apparently they all think it was Harry Potter who killed Voldemort. But I don't care, I wouldn't want that fame anyway, he's welcome to it. I mean after all the boy's been through I think he deserves the credit. Especially when I saved the wizarding world out of purely selfish reasons. I didn't even know my deed would bring such repercussions. My only thought at the time was that I couldn't stand by and watch my one and only love be murdered. I was very surprised to wake up, I thought the curse would kill me off for sure despite me gift. Oh, I'm so weak, I need to sleep. . .
* * *
Snape sat in his office trying to grade finals. But he couldn't concentrate. It had been three weeks since Katya's death and all he could think of was how badly he wanted to be dead with her. True, it was good that Voldemort was gone but this did little to comfort him because he, Severus, was still here and the only woman he had ever loved was dead. All because she had given up her life for him. Why couldn't it have been me instead? I'm the ugly, insufferable prat whom everyone hates! She was the beautiful one, the one everyone wanted to be around. The only one capable of loving me. Severus didn't feel like he could go on without his Katya. Her love had been like giving a small bite of cake to a starving man and then taking it away. He hadn't known he was starving until he had met her. Why did it all have to come to an end so soon? Just as he had finally been able to accept that she truly did love him she had been killed. And what for? For him, the one who didn't deserve to live. Snap out of it Sev! You're thinking in circles! You need to get these finals graded and move on with your life. He determinedly picked up his quill and vigorously began marking up the paper in front of him. It wasn't more than five minutes, however, before he had sunk back into his misery. Tears began to fill his eyes as he remembered the night of her death.
"This will teach you to betray the Dark Lord! Avada . . ."
"No! Severus!"
"Kedavra!"
"Katya! NO! Not my Katya! Katya don't leave me!"
Severus was barely aware of his office door opening. He saw a someone in a dark blue robe out of the corner of his eye but he paid them no heed. He continued to relive that horrible night.
"Fool! You thought you could save him. Sorry to break it to you, dearie, but you only ended up getting yourself killed for nothing!"
"Hey handsome, why the long face?" the woman in the doorway said in an American accent.
Startled, Severus looked up, "K- Katya?" he asked. Staring in disbelief at the tall witch. Quickly he stood but remained behind his desk.
"That's my name, don't wear it out," she said.
"I don't understand. Are you a ghost? You don't look like a ghost.
But how . . . I must be going insane!" He shook his head.
"Sev," she interrupted as she walked around his desk, "quit babbling like an idiot and kiss me."
Severus willingly obliged. He kissed her with all his energy. Wrapping his arms about her waist he thought how good it felt to have her in his arms again.
"How?" he asked after they had pulled apart.
"I've never told you about my first year on earth have I?" was her reply.
"No, but I don't see how . . ."
"Shhhh," she said as she placed a finger over his mouth, "Just listen."
Severus said nothing more so she began her tale, "When I was born the birth was so hard on my mother that she slipped into a coma that lasted for several months. My father, not being one to ask for a handout but knowing that I needed to be nursed, decided to feed me cat's milk. Now, I don't know all the particulars of how he went about getting that milk, but what I do know is that it was the milk from my mother's cat, Nefrie. Now, Nefrie was no muggle cat, mind you. She had some magic in here so, like the muggle superstition, she had nine lives. Basically what happened was that somehow her ability to live through nine life taking incidents was passed on to me through her milk. I can also communicate with magical cats," She must have noticed the confused look on Snape's face because she said, "I have nine lives. So far I've used up four. Once when I fell off my broom 143 feet above the ground and I'm figuring that the curse Voldemort used on me took three. Usually it only takes me a few days to get back to my healthy self."
"So, where have you been?"
"Dumbledore admitted me into a muggle hospital. I was hiding from the death eaters. I just got released last week. Dumbledore didn't want anyone to know where I was until all the death eaters were in Azkaban. They just sentenced the last one, Malfoy, today. Albus wanted me to tell him about my experience with Voldemort, but I insisted on seeing you first. He gave me a half-hour."
"Why didn't you tell me you had nine lives?"
"It's not something that comes up in everyday conversation. Besides, you didn't tell me you were a deatheater turned spy for Dumbledore."
"I didn't want you to be afraid of me."
"Why would I be afraid if I knew why you were doing it? Darling, don't you know I love you?"
"And I love you, which brings me to my next question."
"Yes?"
"I bought this a few months ago," Snape explained as he got down on one knee, "I didn't know if I'd ever use it because I didn't know if I'd ever be rid of my 'master.' And then I was, but you were gone," He pulled a small jewelry box out of his robes and opened it. Inside was a white gold engagement ring with four inlaid diamonds. Katya's breath caught at the sight of it.
"Katya Poiston, will you marry me?"
"Yes, oh yes!" she exclaimed. Severus slipped the ring on her finger and she fell into his arms. "I love you so much!" she said as she drew him in for a kiss. Severus kissed Katya over and over. Her cheeks, her lips, her neck. He broke away for air and they stood there holding each other. And that's how Professor Dumbledore found them ten minutes later.
A/N: I'm so happy *sniff* Anywayz let me know how you like it. I was going to do an epilogue but now I'm not so sure. Hmmm, well if you want me to make sure you request it when you review. If I get enough requests I just may go ahead and post one more chapter. Ummmm, I'm not exactly sure if that's how Snape would have reacted to the situation or even if that's how he'd propose, but J.K. has never given us the pleasure of seeing Snape in love so I hope he's not too OOC. Isn't it great? Gosh I wish everything in life ended as happily as that.
