Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Nope, not me.
A/N: Yay for reviews!
Don't worry… the true identity of Psyche Lupin will be revealed… but not in this chapter, because this is a Severus chapter…
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This is the second time I've seen you committed to the Hospital Wing in the two weeks I've known you, and I don't like it, Severus thought.
Helena looked fragile as a porcelain doll where she lay, golden hair luminous against the stark white of the hospital sheets. "She'll be quite all right soon, Severus," Madam Pomfrey had told him, bustling around the Hospital Wing looking for some kind of medical potion. "She fainted, that's all."
Severus knew that Regina was just upstairs, sitting in Gryffindor Tower. He knew that, two weeks ago, before he had gone to Telae Domus, he would have been there with her in a heartbeat. Even if it were just to look at her, to gaze upon her radiant face. Regina, he thought with a familiar pang. Oh, lady, lady, lady.
And yet… the old wound seemed to be closed over tonight. Regina was just upstairs… and yet here he was, sitting beside Helena Seraphim.
Nothing has changed, he told himself vehemently. Nothing at all.
But something had changed, and Severus knew it.
Gently, he reached out and brushed a golden hair off Helena's face. She stirred slightly but did not wake. "Oh Helena," he murmured, "what have you done to me?"
"Get your hands off her, Snape."
Severus stood. "Weasley," he acknowledged coldly.
Bill Weasley strode forward, and his face was white with anger. "You take your dirty hands and your greasy face away from Helena," he grated.
Severus folded his arms on his chest. "I rather think that is for Helena to decide," he answered coldly. He felt pure hatred burning in his soul for Bill Weasley. The Sirius Black of the new generation, a snide little voice commented in his mind. Stealing your women.
"I doubt anyone's told you, Snape," Bill hissed, "but Helena and I are going to get married."
Severus kept his face carefully neutral. At all costs, he did not want Bill to discover that he'd planted an Espionage Insect in Helena's rooms. "I think you'll find that it's my child she's carrying," he retorted.
Bill snorted. "I'll look after your child, don't you worry, Snape. I'll be a father to it like you never could have been. I'll give it my name. Not out of any charity to you -" he spat vehemently, "- but because it's Helena's child and I love her." His blue eyes, normally so mild, were fixed with pure loathing on Severus's face. "I doubt you even know what love is."
Severus felt like he'd been slugged in the stomach but refused to let it show. If you can lie to the Dark Lord, you can stand up to Bill Weasley, he told himself fiercely. "Do not presume to read my mind, Weasley."
"And do not presume to touch my fiancée, Snape!"
"Please…"
Both Bill and Severus turned to Helena. "Helena?" Bill said urgently, dropping his knees beside her bed. "Helena, are you all right? Do you want me to get Madam Pomfrey?"
Helena sat up, rubbing her head. "I'm quite all right, Bill," she said, smiling at him. Severus felt horribly jealous. "I just had a bit of a shock, that's all. One does not expect people who have been dead for sixteen years to suddenly reappear." She ran a hand through her golden hair, pushing it back from her face. "Could you fetch Professor Dumbledore for me, please?"
"Snape, fetch Dumbledore," Bill growled.
"No, Bill," Helena told him gently. "You go. I need a moment with Severus."
"But -"
"Bill," Helena said softly, cupping his face with her hands, "please."
After a short pause, Bill nodded. "All right," he murmured, kissing her temple. "Snape, you stay away!"
"He will," Helena interjected smoothly, before Severus had a chance to speak. "Please, go."
Bill nodded and left the ward - although not after casting a glance of extreme dislike at Severus. Severus's lip curled involuntarily.
"Severus?"
"Yes?"
"Please, sit down."
He sat. "Yes?"
Helena smiled gently at him. "Your Regina. She came back."
Severus snorted. "And so did Black."
"Have you spoken to her?"
"No."
"Where is she now?"
"In Gryffindor Tower. With Black and Lupin and Potter's mob of juvenile miscreants."
"Why have you not gone to her?"
"Because…" Severus did not know how to answer the question. "Because you were unconscious," he said lamely. "I had to stay with you till you woke."
"The Severus Snape I met at Midsummer would have gone to her, hang Helena Seraphim."
"Well, perhaps Severus Snape has changed."
"In two weeks?"
"Anything is possible."
Helena sighed. "I suppose Bill told you?"
"About you getting married? Yes. Congratulations."
"You don't mean that."
"You don't know that."
Helena took one of his hands in both of hers. "Severus," she said, "you are a wonderful man."
Severus didn't know what to say. He was not used to being complimented. He looked at her for a moment. "Do you love him?"
"What?"
"Weasley. Do you love him?"
Helena smiled. "I do. Very much."
Severus smiled back, a genuine smile. "Then I wish you all the happiness in the world," he said, and meant it.
"Thankyou," Helena replied, and they sat, together, in companionable silence.
Outside the window, the moon waned.
*
"Miss Seraphim?"
Helena looked up and Severus stood. "Professor Dumbledore," Helena acknowledged.
"Mr. Weasley tells me that you wished to see me," Dumbledore said, coming in and sitting down. Bill was behind him.
"I do want to speak to you," Helena said. She took a deep breath. "Professor, I do not think it will be possible for me to teach at Hogwarts after all."
If she had expected Dumbledore to be shocked, Severus reflected, she was sadly mistaken. Dumbledore merely smiled. "I had expected as much, my dear. Do not trouble yourself."
"Thankyou," Helena replied softly. "Perhaps in the future, if the position becomes vacant, I will teach for you." She took Bill's hand. "But now I have a wedding to plan and a baby on the way, as well as an entire religious order to re-establish, which will involve pilgrimages to the seelie wight sites - though I hold hopes that Miss Lupin might help me there. I hope you are not much upset."
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "It is perfectly all right, Helena. I already have a replacement in mind - though I will not divulge that just yet. And allow me to tell you that for as long as you need, and at any time in the future, Hogwarts will hold a place for you."
Silent tears of gratitude snaked their way down Helena's face. "Thankyou," she whispered.
Dumbledore laid a gnarled hand on her head. "You deserve all the happiness you can get, my dear," he told her, "and one day, you will achieve it."
Severus almost fancied he saw the old man wink at him.
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