Disclaimer: All characters within belong to J.K. Rowling and everyone else who claims possession of the 'Harry Potter' franchise. Well, except for Silas, Sahriya, and Seraphine. But nobody would care for them anyway.
Warning: This is the 19th chapter. There's obviously slash, so why do I bother with this?
Chapter 19: Prophecy
"Oh, Sevvie, I'm so proud of you. I can't believe that you're already starting school…" Sahriya Snape hugged her youngest child and only son, a large smile on her face. She kissed Severus's forehead.
"Oh, quit it, Sahriya. You're spoiling the boy." Silas Snape said, his arms folded across his chest.
"Are you sure that we can't bring them to the train platform, Silas?" Sahriya asked, her voice hopeful.
"I'm sure…" Silas sneered down at his wife. "He can make the trip with Seraphine… She's done it enough times to know what to do."
Seraphine entered the room, her Hogwarts robes already on and her school trunk floating next to her. A shiny pin was stuck to her robes, reading 'Head Girl.' She glanced first at her mother, then her father, and finally at her younger brother. She walked over to him, kneeling beside her mother's chair.
"Are you all packed up, Sev?" She asked, ruffling his hair affectionately. She grimaced when, with a huff, Silas stalked out of the room. She glared after his retreating form, before turning back to Severus.
"Yes. I've got all of my books and robes packed in my trunk. It's down in the foyer." He smiled, gripping his mother's hand. "I wish you were coming with."
"I do, too, Sevvie. But you know you're father…" Sahriya's eyes misted with tears as she stood, taking Seraphine's hand in her own free hand. "But it will all be fine. As your father said, Sera's made the trip many times… She'll help you around at Hogwarts until you get your bearings. Right, Sera?"
"Of course, Mum."
The trio walked out of the room and down a set of massive stairs, before reaching the foyer. Seraphine set a charm on Severus's trunk, making it float lazily next to her own.
"I'll miss you two. My babies." Sahriya wiped an errant tear from her cheek. "Now, behave. And you'd best write home often."
Sera laughed, hugging her mother tightly. "We will, mother."
Sahriya knelt down, embracing her son, tears reaching his own eyes. "Goodbye, Mummy."
"Goodbye, baby. I'll see you at Christmas."
Seraphine took Severus's hand and walked out the door, looking back at her mother, worry marks on her face. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Sahriya whispered, closing the door behind her two children. She turned around, knowing instinctively that Silas was standing there.
"Hmph. Good riddance to bad rubbish."
"Severus… What happened to you?" I can't help the quiver in my voice as I reach up, running a hand lightly along the bruises on his neck. My fingers ghost over the gash on his forehead, never quite touching it. Rain water drips down from his hair, onto my face.
His eyes close for a moment, all happiness draining from his face. I felt my heart drop to my toes.
"Severus?" I ask again, sitting up as Severus gets to his feet. He begins pacing back and forth in front of me, not speaking. I stand up, planting myself in front of him as he turns. He stops pacing, his eyes tired.
"I… I don't really want to talk about it." He takes my hand in his, bringing it to his lips. He kisses my palm lightly, his eyes half closed.
"Sev-?" I begin to argue with him, but he interrupts me.
"Why don't we go back to Hogwarts, to my chambers? We… We can talk there. I don't want to talk here… You never know who's listening."
"Alright."
We start walking, my hand held lightly in Severus's. I'm tempted to charm us closer to the school, to protect us from the rain, but the feel of his hand on mine, the rain dropping onto us, is a feeling that I wouldn't trade for the world.
By the time we reach the school, we're both dripping wet with rain water. I can almost hear Filch screaming about water on his nice clean floors, but I don't say anything aloud. The look on Severus's face tells me that he's not in a reminiscing mood.
We enter Severus's chambers and speak for the first time since we left the woods.
"We should get out of these clothes… We'll catch our deaths down here." His voice is so quiet, so low… I hate hearing his voice like this. He only speaks like this when there's something wrong.
I shake my head and reach for my wand to dry us, but he shakes his head, sending droplets of water everywhere.
"No, Remus. Don't bother, it's alright. I need to take a nice hot shower anyway…" He looks up at me, his eyes sparkling lightly. He turns his back to me, walking to the bathroom. He stops in the doorframe. "Would you like to join me?"
I'm caught between arguing with him, making him talk, and following him, forgetting everything except how much I've missed his flesh under my fingers. He seems to sense that I'm torn, and comes back over to me. He places his hands on either side of my face, lifting my head so that my eyes meet his.
"We will talk, Remus. I promise you that. But for now, can we just forget everything?" He kisses me lightly, a chaste kiss, full of promise.
"I…"
"Please?" He closes his eyes and leans against me, his voice almost pleading. I know how much this must cost him, showing this weakness, even to me. I can't help but give in.
"Alright." I put my arms around him and hug him tightly. I kiss his neck. "But we will talk."
"Yes." He nods, his hair shaking up and down as his head bobs.
I smile slightly, separating our bodies but taking his hand. I lead him to the bathroom, relishing the smile that comes to Severus's face.
We lay on the bed, our limbs entwined, with his head resting on my shoulder. I run a hand through his hair. We've been laying here for two hours, each of us waiting for the other to speak. Finally, I can't stand the silence.
"What happened?"
Severus breathes a heavy sigh, sitting up slowly. He brings his knees to his chest, careful to keep the blankets over his body. He shivers slightly before speaking.
"Things with Lucius and the Dark… With Voldemort… Didn't go quite as planned. We're back much earlier than we were supposed to be… As it turned out, Voldemort hadn't planned on going, and sent another of his followers with us, a man named Nesbitt Mass. I'd never actually met the man… As you know, we wear masks during Death Eater gatherings for a reason. If someone is a turn coat, or there is a raid, it is harder for someone to identify everybody by name.
"But I digress… We were in Russia within several hours of my leaving here, with the help of a portkey. We set up shot in a ridiculously lavish hotel, at the insistence of Lucius.
"Neither Lucius or I were familiar with Mass, so we chose one large suite as opposed to three rooms. Malfoy thought it better to keep him close, in case this was one of Voldemort's 'tests.'" Severus takes a deep breath, snorting as he closes the sentence. He reaches over to the bedside table, picking up a glass of water. He takes a long drink of it before continuing.
"Nesbitt Mass was a constant thorn in our sides… Two nights ago, we met with a pack of vampires in Moscow, which Mass managed to screw up. Which is where this," He points to a long, nasty cut on this shoulder. "Came from. Mass managed to insult the vampires, and they took their anger out on me."
"Where was Malfoy?" I ask, smoothing Severus's hair away from his face.
"He had a different meeting at the time, so I went to the meeting with Mass."
"A different meeting?" I can't help but ask. A meeting revolving around Lucius Malfoy can never be a good thing.
"It had something to do with his business associates." Severus waves a hand in front of himself, dismissing the subject. "Anyway, after Mass managed to destroy the meeting with the vampire pack, we went back to the hotel. Lucius was still out when we got there. We had some dinner before Luc got back, and he decided that he wanted more than I was willing to give."
I take my hand from Severus, my hands balling into fists. "Did he…?"
"He tried. I fought him off. Thus the bruises and cuts. Lucius came in to find Mass with his hands around my throat, trying to kiss me." He coughs softly, a malicious glint in his eyes. "Let's just say that Mass kept his hands to himself after that. Of course, it was much easier to do so with his right hand in a glass jar."
"Malfoy cut off his hand?!" I can't help but gasp. The man's a right bastard, but I never thought him capable of that.
Severus smiles. "It can be reattached. It's more of charm than a hex. His hand is in the jar, but it's fine… The blood is still magically flowing in it. It's like a Muggle magic trick."
I nod. "I see." I'm still not entirely comfortable with the concept. "Why are you back so early? Not that I'm angry about that fact, mind you." I kiss his cheek.
"Voldemort was frustrated at our failings with the vampires and called us back." Severus shrugs. "We paid for it through a few good curses and hexes, but nothing he's never done before. I'm just happy to be back. I missed you."
"I missed you, too. I love you, Severus. I was downright miserable while you were gone."
"As was I, Lupin."
"Severus… Could I ask you a question?" I fumble over my words, blushing slightly.
"Of course." He gives me a small, shy smile.
"Will you marry me?"