Beautiful Soul III
Severus willed his lips to remain in his permanent sneer as he watched Neville smile and murmur something to Maevan. It still annoyed him to watch the witch whisper into his ear at every meal. He assumed it was some sort of inside joke the two shared. His pride demanded that he say nothing about it, but it still irked him to no end. The dark haired woman winked at him mysteriously as he took his seat beside Neville. She was one of a bare handful of people who knew that the two men were lovers.
"Good morning, Severus," Neville said cheerfully. He carefully sprinkled a few dashes of salt and pepper into his palm before putting them onto his eggs, and tapping his fork over them. His lover's eating habits were a mild curiosity to him. The pair rarely discussed the mechanics of Neville's blindness, though Severus imagined that at some point they would have to.
Forced into a verbal reply, Snape muttered an unenthusiastic "good morning."
The Great Hall was filled with chattering students. Years at the school had made Severus immune to them. Only when he was teaching did he really pay any attention to them, but Neville was different. He greeted the students that passed by the table as he recognized them by voice. In fact, students gravitated toward him. Each one had something to say about this or that, and Neville's reactions showed just how much each one matted to him. The ministry had no idea that their idiotic mandates were taking the best teacher the school had seen in years away.
When the meal was over, everyone filed out of the room to enjoy their Saturday. The professors all had work to do, and Neville and Severus were no exceptions. They found themselves in Neville's chambers. After placing the translating charm on Neville's stack of essays, Severus began to pour over his own, but as always he couldn't help watching Neville's fingers fly across the page.
"How long did it take you to learn that?" he finally asked.
Neville shrugged. "It took me over a year to really get good at it. It takes time to get your brain to recognize what you're feeling as words. You need to learn to think in Braille rather than in print—if that makes any sense to you at all. It's like learning another spoken language when you really are trying to be fluent."
The potions master thought about that for a moment. He'd never really considered that it would be that complicated, but it made sense to think of it as a second language of sorts. "You seem to be quite good at it."
"I used to be a faster reader when I could see. Some of my muggle friends can read Braille much faster than even that, but they were mostly born blind. I don't know what I would have done without them," he added with a sad smile. "I didn't want to accept the fact that there was anything wrong with me until I absolutely had to. Braille seemed like giving in at the time."
After that, they went back to their work and said relatively little as the day wore on. Noon came before they knew and Severus had a house elf bring them lunch in Neville's chambers. It occurred to him that this was the first meal they had shared outside of the Great Hall.
Neville began to laugh as he sat down at the table. "Maevan tells me you haven't figured out our little joke yet. I was certain that you would have by now."
"Well, I haven't," Severus said churlishly.
"She's telling me what's in front of me on my plate." Neville was still chuckling at him. "She tells me what's where by what "time" it's located at"
It made sense, but that didn't mean that he wasn't thoroughly annoyed. "Do tell me if there are any other secrets you and Quinn decide to keep."
"No more secrets," Neville promised.
The afternoon seemed to drag on forever. In his current mood, Severus was even less forgiving with his students' work than he normally was. It did bring up the question of what he would do when he left Hogwarts. He had no real intention of teaching ever again after this, but he wasn't about to do nothing for the rest of his life. More and more, leaving Hogwarts was becoming a certainty. The ministry was not going to budge it seemed. One official even had the gall to say that he was going to try and see a law passed restricting the magic of all blind wizards.
Finally, Neville tossed down the essay he'd been reading. "Enough of this," he said. Reaching out a hand to Severus, he pulled the potions master into the bedroom.
Snape smiled greedily as he watched Neville doff his clothes paying close attention to muscles in Neville's arms and chest. Normally, they kept their sexual escapades to the dark of night. He gently began to place kisses across Neville's bare collar bone, and then bit down on his shoulder. He had found that his lover enjoyed things like that. The two of them were not shy about sex. They both took full advantage of every opportunity.
When they were finished, they laid in bed rather exhausted. The candles in the room had illuminated automatically at dusk. Neville's eyes seemed to follow the flames as they illuminated one by one. "Can you see the light?" Severus asked. Why not ask the questions he had been holding back, he thought blandly.
Neville nodded. "I can tell the difference between light and dark. I can also make out basic shapes in bright light, but I don't see much detail or color. I used to have a bit of central vision that was fairly clear, but not so much anymore. RP is different for everyone."
"Have you ever thought about trying potions again?"
"No, and I wouldn't."
Severus snorted. "If we're going to the muggle word, what would it matter anyway?"
"You have no idea what it is to depend on a potion, do you?" Neville asked softly.
"I've lived my life devoted to them," Snape retorted. He couldn't believe that Neville wouldn't take the chance to see again.
"It drained me of everything, and not just magic either. I felt lost. In my head, I would know something one minute and have it gone the next. Worst of all, I doubted everything I did. I would rather be blind than face that again. And even if I did try, there is no guarantee that it would work again."
Though he had more faith in his own potions, Severus wasn't about to force the issue. "If it's what you want."
A seductive smile crossed Neville's face. "What I want, eh?" He kissed the older man passionately. "You are what I want."
They laid in bed for a long time. Severus was infinitely thankful that his lover knew when to be quiet, but there were a number of things that he was thankful for at the moment.
A knock at the door jarred them from the peacefulness. Neville swore softly and threw on his pants. "Coming," he called out.
Severus began to dress hurriedly. Unlike Neville, he hadn't taken the time to put his clothes neatly at the edge of the bed. They both looked disheveled when Headmistress Hooch came in. There was an unmistakable twinkle in her eye, and she had obviously figured out what they had been doing. "I am terribly sorry to interrupt you," she said holding back a laugh.
"No problem at all," Neville assured her.
Speak for yourself, the darker man thought, but said nothing.
Madame Hooch sighed. "I do have bad news, I'm afraid. The Ministry absolutely refuses to hear us out on this issue. Perhaps if Harry Potter were to…."
"Harry has done enough," Severus said resolutely. He knew Neville would agree.
Rolanda looked crestfallen. "You will both at least finish out the school year?"
He narrowed his eyes uselessly at the blind man. "Did you say anything?"
Neville shook his head, and Rolanda was laughing. "I guessed. It was exactly what Minerva and I would have done."
The look on Neville's face was classic. "You and Professor McGonagall? Oh, I'm sorry. I just never imagined that the two of you….I'm not helping matters, am I?"
"No, you're not," Severus chimed in. "I shall assist you in finding a replacement."
"Already taken care of. There is a young woman who came very highly recommended. January Austin is a graduate from Salem, and she's agreed to spend the remainder of the semester as your assistant to prove herself to you."
He raised a black brow at that. "Were you planning on telling me any of this?"
"I think she just did," an unfamiliar voice drawled from the open door. Beside Maevan stood a petite woman with short, black hair streaked with red dressed in a black lace skirt and a peasant top. "January Austin," she said offering a gloved hand. Her olive green eyes told him that she was sizing him up every bit as much as he was.
"Severus Snape," he returned flatly.
Maevan leaned close to Neville, but Severus could hear what she said. "Is it just me, or did the temperature drop in here?"
He turned to glare at the woman. "I don't believe you have any reason to be here for this," he said pointedly.
"And miss the opportunity to see my baby cousin succeed?"
"Christ, I should have known."
Rolanda seemed to be finding this all very amusing. "Well, now that introductions have been made, I think we'll continue our tour. I will see you this evening, Severus?"
He nodded curtly, and waited until the door was shut behind them. "What the hell is she thinking?" he muttered
Neville wrapped an arm around Snape's waist. "Probably what she thinks is best."
"But HER? I already hate the woman."
The light haired man sighed. "You hate her because she is taking part of your life over."
Severus knew he was right.
"Are you sure—are you absolutely, without a doubt sure that you want to do this? We haven't exactly been together very long, and I won't hold it against you if you aren't," Neville told him with a slightly pained tone of voice.
It took him a moment to say anything at all, but not because he didn't know his answer. He wanted to be certain that he said it all correctly. "Neville, I am not the kind of man to do much frivolously," he began. "If I do anything, it is because I am sure. I can't promise you that I will learn to love the muggle world…let alone muggle America. But I do know that I would regret it for the rest of my life if I let you leave here without me."
Neville smiled. "I love you."
"I know, and it's a damned good thing you do."
"Why is that?"
Severus cocked a brow. "Because I would have merely slipped you a love potion, and seduced you."
"It was all a ploy to get me in bed?" Neville could barely contain his laughter.
"Yes, now I suggest you get back to bed, or I'll have you serve detention with me in dungeons until you have learned you lesson."
"I would enjoy nothing more."
