A/N: Been wanting to write this for a while, but just got around to doing so today. For anyone who cares, the plot was inspired by a horoscope from The Onion (which is an on-line newspaper): Cancer: (June 22—July 22) This week is a good one for romance in the workplace, and an even better one for necromancy in the breakroom. And this morning…I thought of sequels. So saying, this will become a ficlet trilogy—the "Forgetting Trilogy."
Warnings: Sevvie is such a fucked up bastard. I don't think Sirius is much better, though.
Disclaimer: Oh hell…if I owned these people, the series would so not be a children's book.
Summary: First in the Forgetting Trilogy. All they needed to discover the truth was a single spell…just one spell, and one night without interruption. (I wish I could write smut.) Rated for Sevvie's…problems.
Title: Forgetting HatredThe stars sparkled brilliantly up in the heavens, unaware of the pair of dark eyes staring up at them. It was a beautiful night—not a cloud could be found anywhere, much to a certain person's annoyance. He would have preferred the clichéd dark and stormy night that accompanied nefarious doings in every good Muggle novel. He would also have preferred the full moon to the new moon…but the spell he was planning on casting that night could be cast no other time. It was now or never, he knew. It wasn't likely at all that he would chance to find another night like this one anytime soon.
With a deep sigh, the black form stood from the window seat and slammed his book shut. He had the spell memorized; there was no need for it anymore. Something in the back of his mind told him to keep it open, just to be safe—a single mistake could cost him his life. But his life had never mattered very much to him. And now he thought that death would almost be preferable to this lonely existence. Death, at least, would place him where the people he had once loved were. And then he would never have to leave them, never ever again…he would be safe and happy for eternity. He didn't believe in the Hell that so many people feared would come after death—and even if it did exist, he could live with an eternity of torture. It would be no real difference to him.
The book was dropped onto the window seat as the figure pulled out his wand. With a sharp wave of his hand, several candles in the middle of the room lit up, illuminating his face with flickering lights that were the only things cliché enough to make the night interesting. Dark eyes scrutinized the pentagram that was drawn lightly on the floor in white chalk—they stared at the five points, where the candles, all black, stood with blue fire on top of them. For the first time ever, the man was happy that his family had been Dark for generations upon generations. He never would have found the spell he needed otherwise.
With his slow, gliding steps, he walked in a circle just outside the symbol, careful to keep his robes from lighting on fire. Words fell from his lips in an almost snake-like hiss, chanted just low enough that they would never be understood. As he passed each candle, the flame burned higher and brighter, smoke starting to roll off them and drift to the middle of the star. Three times around his circle and then stopped at the beginning, chanting and chanting, as a tall figure slowly formed from the smoke. Nine repetitions before a bright flash of light—the smoke is cleared, the flames die down, and all that is left are two forms standing in the middle of the room and five melted candles.
"Black," the first form said in its silky voice, and the other man spun around.
"Snape?" Sirius Black questioned shakily, gray eyes darting around uncertainly and taking everything in. "What…what's going on? Why are we standing around in the dark? Hell…why am I alive?"
"I brought you back to life," Severus replied, smirking as he waved his wand again to turn the real lights on. "Not for good, of course—there is no spell, Dark or Light, that is capable of that. You should fade in a few hours and return to whatever afterlife you had been enjoying."
"That doesn't answer why, Snape," Sirius snarled.
"I came to a certain…realization a few days after you fell from behind the veil, but it wasn't until now that I could bring you back. I found, black, that I rather missed your presence, detestable as it was."
"So…what? You wanna fight again? Unless you have my wand hidden somewhere in your robes, that's a bit impossible," Sirius responded, confusion lacing his voice.
"No. Not to fight." Severus' smirked widened maliciously as he stepped over the remains of the candle he was standing behind, gliding forward until he was standing barely an inch in front of Sirius. Sirius, on his part, didn't move; he just stared up at the slightly taller man in confusion. "I found that it wasn't the fighting I missed, nor was it the hatred…it was simply you."
"You're babbling, Snape," Sirius stated, backing away a few steps. "And nutters. Absolutely nutters."
"Perhaps," Severus chuckled softly. "That was my first thought when I came up with this idea. But it matters no longer—nutters or not, I was still capable of thinking of and doing this, wasn't I? Madness matters not in times of such genius."
"This was far from genius," Sirius snarled. "Leave me alone. Let me go back to being dead in peace!"
"No," was all Severus said in reply before he reached forward and pulled his rival flush against his body—their lips touched for a brief moment before Sirius jerked roughly back.
"Let go of me!" the man yelped. "Snape, let—"
"Stop fighting and kiss me, you obnoxious prat," Severus snarled in reply.
Sirius was immediately back in Severus' grasp, seemingly incapable of controlling his own body. He wrapped his arms around the other man's neck, pulling his head down into an appropriately passionate kiss. The two of them seemed to almost melt eagerly into each other's arms as their tongues fought for dominance. An eternity passed by them in the few minutes it took for them to pull away in hopes of drawing in much needed air.
"Did I
forget to mention?" Severus smirked after regaining his breath enough to
actually talk. "I brought you back to life, Black. You have to obey whatever I
tell you, whether you like it or not. What do you think of that?"
"Fuck you," Sirius replied.
"On the contrary. Fuck you," Severus grinned.
It was several hours later that Severus and Sirius finally lay in Severus' bed, panting as they lay side by side. A smug smirk was settled firmly on Severus' face as he turned his head to the side to look at Sirius.
"Well?" he questioned.
"…When's the next time you're bringing me back to life?" Sirius asked, grinning widely.
Resisting the urge to laugh, Severus instead rolled his eyes and turned onto his side, stretching his arm out just far enough to run his thumb gently down Sirius' cheek. The smirk faded.
"You're starting to fade," Severus said softly.
"I know," Sirius replied. "I can feel it." He sighed before continuing, "I was fully dressed when you brought me back to life…when I fade again, does all my clothing go with me, or just what I'm wearing?"
"Just what you're wearing. Why do you ask?" Severus returned in confusion.
Sirius grinned and reached behind his own neck to fumble with the clasp of a necklace that had somehow remained on him through the night. "In that case…take this. I don't need it where I'm going anymore."
Severus eyed the pendant curiously as he was handed the necklace. It was an axe, he thought amusedly, with two snakes curling around it. Nothing moved, forcing him to wonder if perhaps it was a Muggle creation—and to wonder how in the world Sirius would have been capable of getting it.
"I bought it in London once, when I ran away from home," Sirius stated matter-of-factly. "It just…seemed like a fitting symbol, for some reason. I never did figure out why…but I like it. And I kept it…because it reminded me, however painfully, of freedom."
"That's an almost disgusting piece of sap," Severus sneered, but put the necklace on anyway.
"Just…if you ever run into Remus, don't let him see it," Sirius continued as if Severus hadn't said anything. "He'll recognize it as mine."
"Don't worry about it."
There was a slight pause before Sirius, sighing, moved himself to be pressed up to Severus' body again. Their lips met in a silent goodbye for only a few seconds before Sirius was suddenly gone…this time for good.
A/N: Fwee! That was fun! So yes, there will be at least two sequel ficlets to it…just so you're warned. Um a few notes….
The chant was repeated nine times because nine is a sacred number (especially in Japan, as far as I know), and represents "completion and fulfillment" according to my book. Also associated with the heavens and spirituality. It is also a masculine number (as opposed to the feminine evens), so I thought it would better suit the fact that two men were doing this. If it had been two women or a woman casting…perhaps I would have used six.
The necklace Siri gives to Sev vaguely resembles a necklace I wear almost all the time—mine, however, is an axe with a dragon wrapped around it, as opposed to two snakes. Obviously, I changed the dragon to snakes to represent Siri and Sev—Sev as a Slytherin, Siri as being born to a Dark family (and the symbol of the Dark is a snake, of course).
Also: The QS is unfortunately incapable of writing smut. So saying, I extend this challenge: to write the smut scene for this ficlet…. Hopefully someone will want to do this…I'd love to read it.
And…that's it. Hope you liked it! And please please please please review? I like reviews. They're pretty. (Flame if you like. I just received one for a different fic the other day, and I'm rather eager to get another one. Flames are funny.)