Visions in the Night Sky
A/N: The song excerpt is by Evanescence.
Chapter 4: Event on the Horizon
Saturday sun blared down through the waters of the lake, turning them greenish in color as it illuminated Merewen's bed. Meriwether lightly swatted his little front paws at the window, chasing a fish that swam too closely to the glass. Growing bored with this, Meriwether leapt from the sill and up on to Merewen's bed, purring and kneading as he sat on her chest.
*Meow!*
Merewen blinked slowly and reached up out of the covers to pet him. Meriwether was growing quickly and it wouldn't be long before his downy kitten fuzz was replaced with smooth, sleek tabby fur. Merewen stretched and forced herself to get up. Her lessons for the next week had to be written and she had a ten o'clock meeting with Professor Sprout to discuss new herbs and roots that she needed for her upper level classes.
By mid-afternoon, Merewen had finished her work and was ready for some serious relaxation. She returned to her chambers and dropped her books on the desk. Meriwether meowed loudly and Merewen gladly scooped him up and cuddled him close to her as she walked across the room to her piano. Placing him on the top of the instrument, she sank down behind the keys and began to sing and play.
"…Baby, Marry me,
Promise me you'll stay with me
Oh you don't have to ask me
You know you're all that I live for
You know I'd die just to hold you
Stay with you
Somehow I'll show you
That you are my night sky
I've always been right behind you
Now I'll always be right beside you!"
Merewen's soaring mezzo-soprano accompanied the piano as the melody penetrated the walls and floated like a breeze to Severus' ears.
"So many nights, I've cried myself to sleep
Now that you love me, I love myself
I never thought that I would say this
I never thought there'd be you!" The muted sound of Merewen's voice sang. Severus put down his quill and listened. When she finished the song, he couldn't help a smile. Her voice was lovely; a ribbon of rich, dulcet tones certainly meant to bring him a smile on this day. It had been a successful sixth week for Merewen, and Severus found himself more and more comfortable leaving the room for short spans of time to attend to other matters. This was part of Merewen's training. She had to be able to conduct class without him in the background to jump in and rescue her. Not that she needed him. The students liked Merewen's avant garde methods of teaching as much as they enjoyed her sense of humor and quiet joy.
A rare smile crossed Severus' face. It seemed that as Merewen explored teaching and endeavored to make herself a better professor, she was helping Severus to discover things about himself he thought were lost. He was feeling more relaxed, and was beginning to look forward to things again. He hadn't felt like this since he was a little boy. Most of all, he was looking forward to his meetings with his headstrong, passionate student teacher. The last time they met to talk about the classroom, she brought the afternoon tea with her and they laughed and talked until they were very late for dinner. As they walked briskly down the hall, Merewen nearly had to take two steps for every one of Severus'. She laughed out loud at this. She had to carry her skirts as they climbed the stairs and Merewen broke into a light run to keep up with him.
"What pray tell is so funny?" Severus had asked her.
"Look at us, running to dinner like two students late for the class session!" she laughed, panting a bit. Severus had had to smile back. By the time they reached the Great Hall, they were both laughing so hard that even Severus' pale cheeks had gained a pinkish blush and his brown eyes danced. They swept quickly into the Hall and stopped short as many turned to look at them. They stood silent for just a moment, looked at one another and laughed again. Severus offered Merewen his arm and they proceeded to the High Table to join the other professors, several shaking their heads in amusement.
This memory was still fresh in his mind when there was an anxious pounding on the door. Startled back to reality, Severus rose to answer the door. A very tense Professor McGonagall stood before him.
"We have a problem," Minerva said sternly, handing Severus a scroll. He stood back to allow her inside and locked the door. A problem meant something with the Ministry. A problem meant work to do for the Order. Severus left Hogwarts an hour later, his sleek black broomstick propelling him through the air toward Grimmauld Place for further instructions. He had only had enough time to leave a brief note for Merewen. She would, under Professor Dumbledore's supervision, be taking over as Potions Mistress until his return. If indeed he returned at all. Severus' heart pounded with a fear he had never known before. There was something in his heart he didn't remember placing there. He had not had time to explain it, even to himself, but he had begun to fall in love with Merewen and now she may never know.
Severus ached to go back, to turn his broom around and go back to the castle where she was probably just now finding his note and becoming afraid. Surely, she would not know what is going on. Nor should she. Matters dealing with the Order were kept well under wraps, and Merewen could never know about them. Still, Severus was sure he had left a part of himself there at Hogwarts, there for Merewen to find and if the fates allowed, to return his fervent emotion.
Thinking as he flew, he once again remembered the night they were late for dinner. After the meal, the two had walked back to their quarters still occasionally laughing softly as they walked. As soon as the students were out of sight and out of earshot, Severus had gently cupped Merewen's face in his hand and lightly kissed her. Merewen's smile had grown from this as she reached to brush his long hair out of his eyes. She didn't need to say anything else. She simply let her cool fingertips linger on his cheek and then walked back into her room, slowly shutting the door and leaving a stunned Severus to walk on air back to his chambers next door.
Severus wondered at length if he would ever get to kiss her again.
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Merewen had heard Professor McGonagall's voice. She had heard the fear that trembled in both her voice and then Severus'. When the noise had stopped, she timidly opened the door and looked about. She found a note magically tacked to her door. She pulled it down and quickly went back into her room and shut the door. The note consisted of two pages of Severus' masculine script. The note explained a sudden emergency that demanded that he leave immediately for London. He couldn't tell her what it was about, only that it was dangerous and that in his stead, she would be completely in charge of teaching potions, something that he was certain she could do with flying colors. Merewen nodded as she read this, as if she were accepting the responsibility as any capable teacher would. She continued to read the note as Severus moved from business matters to the more personal ones.
"This sudden disappearing act is not something I relish. If it were not a dire event, I would not have done this to you at all. Not that I feel that you couldn't handle any situation with the grace you have shown since you came here, but there is something more pressing and most assuredly more personal that I need to tell you. I heard your voice as you sang at the piano that I placed in your room for you and my heart sang with you. I realize that I cannot expect you to return my feelings during such an emotional time, but I needed you to know something. I need you to know, my sweet Merewen, that I love you. I pray as I write this and as I fly from the safety of your reach tonight, that someday I will again have the joy of holding you again.
Yours forever,
Severus"
Merewen's hands shook. She was crying and it all but blurred her vision as she read the last sentences of Severus' note. Merewen stood and paced the floor before the fire. Her first thought was his timing. How could he up and leave and confess love in a note left on her door? What was he thinking? Certainly he knew better than this. He would come back and Merewen would have to have a talk with him. Then it dawned on her like lightning through the clouds. He might not come back. Her heart pounded. She looked over to the cloak and hat hanging on hooks near the door, for a fleeting moment thinking that she still had time to follow him. She would fly to him. She would help him to fight off whatever evil thing he was going away to fight and she would bring him home with her, as victorious in battle as two knights returning from the fray. Then as quickly as they had come, Merewen's aspirations of grandeur faded.
She didn't know where he had gone, she had no idea what he was up against, and to abandon the watchful care of his classes and his house would never be tolerated. Helpless, Merewen ran from her room and up the stairs, flying out into the open courtyard and turning her face up to the pin dots of light in the blackened sky.
"I love you!" Merewen shouted, tears streaking her face and desperately guessing what direction he had gone so she could face that way. "Severus, I love you! I love you!"
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