-THE LOVE LETTER

CHAPTER 7 : Temporarily Suspended

Snape woke up feeling a lot better that morning. He still had a little worry in the back of his mind but he tried to brush that away, at least until he was sure of what had happened to her.

Thinking of her made him remember the letters and he jumped out of bed to check the fireplace.

Sure enough there was a new letter and he sat back on the large chair, holding it fondly. He had come to enjoy that so much, it would be hard to go through the day without reading one of her letters.

""" Dear Mr. Snape,

I have decided to accept the laws of nature, as they apply to you and me, have been for whatever reason, temporarily suspended.

You have the advantage over me that you know a lot about my life, and I know nothing of yours. You said you are a professor, so tell me what you teach and how you live in your time, so many years in the future.

Most important of all, tell me wether this connection between us, means that you too, yearn to find someone you can truly appreciate to have in your life... Or is there already someone like that for you?

I can only imagine what you must think of me. A married woman should not be considering such things, but I must ask you not to judge me and continue to write. At least so, before the laws of nature reassert themselves.

Liv. """

He smiled seeing she had signed her name Liv this time. She was welcoming him as much as he was her and that gave him a feeling he couldn't quite recognize. To have someone accept him wasn't a constant in his life.

A loud knock on the door pulled him out of his thoughts and he shot an irritated look at the door. He knew who it was and reluctantly said, "Enter!"

McGonagall entered the room carrying a tray with food.

"What is that, Minerva?"

"Why breakfast, you do eat breakfast don't you?" she said placing the tray on the table.

"I know that, I am just wondering why are you bringing it here?" he asked impatiently.

"Well, you have been gone all day yesterday and when I didn't see you in the Great Hall this morning, I decided to come have breakfast with you," she said and started to move the teapot and cups out of the tray.

"I am a grown man, you really don't need to worry about me."

Ignoring his protests, she set a plate in front of him and poured tea in his cup. Then her eyes caught the letter he was still holding.

"Is that another one?"

"Yes," he said looking down at the letter and then handing it to her. "Take it, I know you want to read it."

She took the letter and sat in front of him slowly, amazed by the idea of it. After reading it thoroughly, she gave it back to him with a worried expression. "This is not right, Severus. You surely don't mean to go on with this?"

"Why not?" He scowled.

"You have no right to interfere in a life that has already been lived! This woman does not exist!"

"How do you know that? She could be your age by now!"

"But she's not the same person you're writing to, in this world, right now, she isn't the same..."

"I don't care. That doesn't matter." He shifted in his seat and looked up sighing. "Look, she is the one person that I ever felt compelled to really talk to, I like the way she thinks and..."

"But even if she's still alive, these letters are not part of her life anymore, the woman who wrote that letter doesn't exist anymore," she said frowning.

"Then why do I feel..." He blushed lightly. "why do I feel the way I feel?"

McGonagall sank back in her chair. This was more serious than she thought.

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Lavinia waited until his car pulled off the driveway, so she could get her purse and leave. She had been meaning to go to the library since they had moved, but John didn't agree with her walking around by herself. When she suggested he'd go with her, he snorted and said she would have to kill him before she could drag him into a library. 'Such an inquisitive mind!' she thought sarcastically.

She hated walking under the sun, it was too hot, so the morning was the best time to go anywhere. Luckily the library wasn't very far and soon enough she had reached the entrance.

She got herself lost in so many books and choices. She chose some books to take home, but before leaving, she wanted to research about her house. She wanted to know how long it had been there and what families had inhabited its walls. And possibly see if she could find something that gave her an explanation to what was happening in her fireplace.

It took sometime to dig up information on the house. Apparently there was some mystery involving the family who built it. The house was built in the 30's, but the land and many more throughout the city, had belonged to the Marston family for generations. There were no records, pictures or names of present relatives. The only information was the name Marston.

Being a history buff, she tried to look into the family's history. There was nothing. It was as though they had never existed. Considering the properties and lands, plus the time it had been in the family, this wasn't just any ordinary family. They must have had money and social status. Then why no record?

Her curiosity only grew more and she decided to pay a visit to the real estate office that had sold them the house. She was feeling good to be out of the house and doing something she enjoyed for once in her life.

The office was very near her husband's diner and she was risking a lot going there, but she had a sense of adventure that day. She smiled at this thought, taking care not to be seen. The office stood on the next corner and she hurried to get inside.

A tall thin man with a red bow tie and a fake smile came up to her.

"May I help you?"

"I am interested in some information about the house I'm presently living in, about its previous owners," she asked taking the seat the man was offering.

"Are you having any problems with the house?" the man asked.

"No, it's wonderful, I'm just making a research on the house's history and I was wondering if you have records on the last owners," she asked with a little smile.

"Oh certainly, what's the property address? Is it in your name or your husband's?"

Lavinia gave all the information to the man and waited for him to return from his archive room. He returned looking puzzled.

"That's odd," he said sitting behind his desk with a folder in hand.

"What's the matter?" Lavinia asked straightening up to see the folder.

"Well, there's no sign of any owner before your husband. The records are blank. I myself took care of this sale and I can't remember who they were..." The man was staring at the papers utterly confused.

"You mean you don't remember who you made business with about a month ago?" She asked incredulous.

"I know I talked to them, but I can't remember them and I don't understand how all the information disappeared from the documents." He showed her the documents with blank spaces where the names should be.

She felt the hairs on her arms stand and she quickly got her own notes and showed the man. "Look, I went to the library today and learned that the family who owned the land were the Marstons. But I have no idea of their whereabouts or if they have any heirs."

The man stared blankly at her notes. She frowned and asked, "Do you remember this name, Sir?"

"No, never heard of it..." The man shook his head, still extremely confused.

Lavinia stood up, thanked the man and left. That was the strangest thing, she couldn't understand what had just happened there. In fact things were getting too strange lately, letters from the future, people vanishing...

She was walking down the road intrigued with the whole thing when she realized she was across the street from John's diner. She quickly entered a bookstore on the way and hid there for a while, trying to see if he was anywhere near. She kept gazing from the store's window and after a while, she thought the coast was clear, so she decided to leave. As she was heading for the door, she saw John coming out of the diner.

She returned to the place she was, and looked out the window. He was standing in front of the diner, as if he was waiting for something. She was wondering why he was there at all, when a woman with shoulder length blond hair, wearing a very revealing pink dress, came out the diner and held onto his arm. She watched as both of them walked to his car and he politely opened the door for her to get in, then in seconds he got into the car and they left.

She stood there with her mouth hanging open.

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After McGonagall left, Snape changed into proper clothes and tried to get some of his work done. He immersed himself into as much work as he could to push the thoughts of her from his mind.

How could he be feeling like this for a woman he barely knew? He hadn't even seen her. He felt embarrassed for displaying these emotions in front of McGonagall. He didn't even know he felt this strong about her until he spoke about her. He sighed and paced around the room. This was a foolish pursuit and he had no idea what he wanted from all this.

But it couldn't stop intriguing him, what had happened to her and why had the house caught fire? He was almost afraid to imagine.

She had asked him what subject he taught ... how could he tell her he taught potions? He couldn't tell her about his world, it wasn't the kind of thing one could reveal through a letter. He sighed and went on with his work pushing the toughts completely out of his head. At least for the time being.

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