Whiskey Lullaby
By Silent Cobra
AN: Whiskey Lullaby is copyright of Brad Paisley, HP chars are property of JK Rowling. Onto the story. This is from the POV of Harry and Ginny.
Harry
School was over, it had been for nearly two years now. I remained at Hogwarts to teach, special favor to Dumbledore. I become Professor Potter, Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Ron and Hermione hung around too. Ron became the Quidditch master and Hermione became a substitute teacher, she could teach any class (except Divination) and the teachers enjoyed being able to get a break.
We fell in and out of relationships. Ron has been dating Lavender for about 6 months, a record. Ginny and I have been going steady since the end of my seventh year, and the final war.
Hermione…Hermione did something that shocked us all. She started to take a huge interest into potions, spending hours in the lab with Snape.
Then one day, I walked in to see her sitting on his desk, flipping an apple from hand to hand. He was standing behind her, messaging her shoulders and whispering into her ear. I froze, standing in the doorway watching the proceedings unnoticed.
Eww…sometimes just thinking about that still gives me the creeps. Anyway, back to my story.
Hermione then dropped the apple and reached her hand behind her and grabbed Snape's head. She pulled his face to hers and kissed his lips gently.
I gave an audible gasp. Snape looked up at me.
"Well, Mr. Potter, I see you've found our little secret?"
I grunted and hightailed it out of the lab as quickly as I could. So…Hermione and Snape were in love….
A few months later I was in heading for the Hogshead for a drink. Most of the school (mainly the teachers, and a few students) knew about the Granger-Snape relationship. Some were fervently against it (McGonagall) and others were happy for them (Dumbledore, but that man would be happy if Lucius started to date his grandmother so….).
I walked into the bar and looked around. I saw Snape sitting alone at the bar, nursing a shot of whiskey.
She put him out
like the burnin' end of a midnight cigarette
I sat down next to him. His eyes were bloodshot and his skin was paler than usual.
"Snape?"
"Go. Away. Potter."
She broke his heart
he spent his whole life tryin' to forget
I looked at him.
"Where's Hermione?" I asked slowly.
The look that crossed his face at that moment was heart-wrenching. His hand started to shake and he flagged the bartender for another shot.
"She left…" he said shakily.
We watched him drink his pain away a little at a time
But he never could get drunk enough to get her off his mind
Until the night
Every day now, he would show up drunk. He barely had the heart to do anything. Everyday was a constant battle for the poor man.
Looking back now, and looking back farther into my school years, its hard to imagine that I had sympathy for the man.
What am I doing? I promised Albus that I'd write this…so everyone would know, and I keep getting sidetracked. Back to the narrative.
Hermione avoided him like the plague. I kept thinking that they had been happy together, and she left him…It still doesn't make sense to me.
Even though he was constantly drunk, it was plain to see that he couldn't get drunk enough to drive her memory away.
Until the night….
He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger And finally drank away her memory
Life is short but this time it was bigger
Than the strength he had to get up off his knees
It happened one night, Halloween if my memory serves me right. I was doing my rounds with Ginny (who had become my wife) when we heard it from the dungeons.
A single, loud gunshot.
We found him with his face down in the pillow
With a note that said I'll love her till I die
We ran into the lab and crashed through the open door into his chambers. He was lying with his face in the pillows.
"Severus?" I whispered, my voice shaking. Ginny's shoulders were quivering. I touched his shoulder and turned him over.
Ginny whimpered. There was a neat, round hole in the side of his head.
"What's that?" I whispered, pointing to a note in clutched in his hands. I gently pulled it out.
Hermione…I'll love her till I die…
The note slid through my hands and landed with a flutter on the bed. "Call Albus," I whispered softly.
Ginny touched my shoulder. "What about Hermione? She'll…she'll want to know…"
I nodded slowly. "I'll get Albus."
Ginny nodded and headed out. I stood and walked to the fireplace.
"Albus Dumbledore!" I said. His head appeared in the flames.
"Harry! What can I do for you?"
I could feel that my face was tear streaked and I felt like I had a frog caught in my throat.
"It's Severus, Albus…he's dead."
And when we buried him beneath the willow
The angels sang a whiskey lullaby
We buried him beneath a lone willow tree beyond the edge of the forest. All of the teachers attended, along with many students. Some old friends of his also arrived. Hermione stood alone under the willow, staring forlornly at his grave. Tears ran down her cheeks.
"God, Harry, she still loves him," Ginny whispered as the funeral departed. I put my arm over her shoulders and led her away.
Hermione followed us slowly.
As we crested the hill, I looked back at his grave.
I swear I could hear the Angel's singing a Whiskey Lullaby.
Ginny
After Severus died, Albus asked Hermione to become the potions mistress. Many of us thought that was a bad idea, considering the relationship they'd been in, but Albus didn't listen, and Hermione took the job.
The rumors flew
but nobody know how much she blamed herself
Everyday I would join Hermione for afternoon tea, and rumors were flying around the school. Many from the students that Hermione taught.
"They say that she was dating the old potions master, and he killed himself when she dumped him."
"I heard that her and Snape were lovers, and she left him, poor guy."
"It's her fault that he killed himself."
Many of these were said within hearing distance of Hermione. Whenever she heard one, her eyes would fill up with tears.
One day, on the anniversary of his death, I went to have tea with her. Instead of tea, there was a large bottle of whiskey on the table.
She sat there, staring into nothingness, drinking away her pain.
For years and years she tried to hide the whiskey on her breath
She finally drank her pain away a little at a time
I could see her dying from the inside. She still loved him, even now. I wondered how long she had been drinking the whiskey.
"Hermione?"
"Go away Ginny, tonight I dance with Severus."
That panicked me. "Hermione…Severus is dead."
But she never could get drunk enough to get him off her mind
Until the night
Her eyes filled with tears. She brought the bottle to her lips.
"I want to be alone tonight, Ginny."
I looked at her sadly, and against my better judgment, I left.
Looking back, I realize that I shouldn't have done it, I just couldn't stand to be with her right then. I should have notified Albus immediately…I should have done a lot of things.
She put that bottle to her head and pulled the trigger
And finally drank away his memory
Life is short but this time it was bigger
Than the strength she had to get up off her knees
As I was heading upstairs, Harry met me. "How is she?"
"Bad," I whispered. He gave me a hug.
BANG!
We froze and looked into each other's eyes.
"No…" I whispered.
We ran down the stairs. I could see this image flashing through my mind, same as a year ago. When Severus shot himself.
My heart was pounding in my head. I was seeing things in a field of red. This was not happening, not again.
We found her with her face down in the pillow
Clinging to his picture for dear life
She was lying in his bed, face down. A gun was on the floor, smoking innocently. I lunged forward and grabbed her shoulder and flipped her over.
I screamed. Harry grabbed me and pulled me to his chest. I sobbed, clinging to him. As with her lover, there was a neat hole in her temple.
She had a picture of him in her arms. She loved him…they loved each other…
"Albus Dumbledore…" I heard Harry say. Albus' face appeared in the fire.
"Harry?"
"She's dead!" I wailed suddenly. Harry and Albus both looked at me.
"Who is dead?" Albus said urgently.
"Hermione…" Harry whispered softly.
Albus closed his eyes.
"We'll bury her next to him."
We laid her next to him beneath the willow
While the angels sang a whiskey lullaby
It was a dark and rainy day when we laid her next to him. They would rest forever together. I looked at the tombstones, and I cried.
Hermione Granger and Severus Snape
Brought together in life by love
Torn apart by death
May the Angels sing
A Whiskey Lullaby…