A/N: Despite the fact that I have read the sixth Harry Potter book I'm still going to try to finish this story because I love Snape. Sorry about taking so long to update. But Anyway Please Read and Review.
Second Best Part XVLuna woke up in the next morning at the break of dawn. The warm sunlight was filtering into her room. Luna sat up in bed, as she could no longer sleep. She looked to her right and was very much surprised to see that Severus Snape was asleep in a chair next to her bed. From what she remembered of the previous night was that she was rocked to sleep in the arms of Professor Snape.
Luna blushed at the fact that she'd been rocked to sleep. She felt even more embarrassed by the fact that the paintings of his childhood had triggered an emotional breakdown. Luna ran a hand through her blonde hair and tried very hard to stop blushing, but she was thoroughly embarrassed about how very sensitive she'd become ever since she fell in love with Harry Potter. Before he came along, things like this never happened to her. She was even more embarrassed by the fact that she had opened up to Severus Snape. It seemed insane that she would do such a thing.
"Miss Lovegood, what are you doing awake so early?" Luna turned her attention and to her surprise Professor Snape was awake. She stared at him for a moment in thought and she could still feel her cheeks burning. She smiled weakly as she looked at him. She wondered why he'd woken up so suddenly. It seemed somewhat strange that he would just wake up. After all it was not like Luna made much noise when she woke up.
"I'm very sorry about yesterday, that doesn't happen often, I really don't know what was wrong with me. Actually I'm embarrassed that you saw my like that. You must think I am very foolish and sensitive," Luna said as she continued to blush and she looked away. The heat in her face made her feel like she was sticking her face in an oven that was just opened. She looked down at her hands and played with the coverlet. She was sure that by now her face was as red as the Weasley's hair.
"You have nothing to be embarrassed about Miss Lovegood. I should have not showed you that room in the first place, I don't know what I was thinking," Severus said as he stared at her. Luna could feel the heat fading and slowly turned to look at him. She smiled at him weakly and brushed her blonde hair behind her ear. She then found that he was staring at her in a slightly dazed fashion and found herself lightly blushing once more.
"Professor Snape, do you mind if I ask you a favor?" Luna asked as she looked down at the covers and once more started to fiddle with them. She found that it was strange that he was still calling her Miss Lovegood after what happened the previous night. It seemed that after the personal information that they told each other about each other's lives that it seemed strange that he would still refer to her so formally. "Will you just call me Luna?" Luna asked as she turned her attention to him. He slowly nodded in response to her request.
At that moment Luna realized how early in the morning it was and she through off the covers and walked over to the window next to her bed. She stood at the window and watched the way the rays of the sun extended towards the sky. From beyond the dark woods that surrounded Snape Manor she could see how the rays of the sun were reaching out to the sky to brighten up for a brand new day. "What are you doing Miss Love… Luna?" Severus asked from where he was sitting. Luna slowly turned to look at him and smiled.
"Professor, come here," she said motioning for him to walk over. He reluctantly stood up from where he sat and walked over to where she was standing. She grabbed him gently by the arm and pulled him closer to her and pointed outside the window towards the rising sun. "Look, the sun in rising. Have you ever seen anything more beautiful in your life before?" she asked as she looked out the window.
"Beautiful," he said, but he was staring down at Luna. He loved the way the rising sun cast a light on her. She looked absolutely beautiful. He slowly turned his attention to what she was pointing out and felt warmth spreading throughout his body. It seemed so strange that Luna could make him feel so alive. It seemed as strange as she was. He found there was a very beautiful look on her face as he stared into her face. It was a look of awe and adoration. It seemed so strange that this very happy looking chills was not so happy a couple of hours ago.
"It's beautiful, a small miracle. I don't understand what was so hard about living in this life that she could not bear to continue living. I know that if you look around the world you can't see anything good in it, but there is so much to live for. You just have to take a deeper look and really appreciate the small things," Luna said as she looked out the window. There was a twinkle in her gaze, but despite the fact that she was speaking about her mother, she was not depressed by it. "Sunrise and sunset are small miracles that people take for granted. The rain is beautiful even if many people don't think that way about it. Walking barefoot in the grass and scrunching your toes in the dew, walking barefoot on a beach, feeling the wind blow through your hair; it's all taken for granted. I don't understand."
Luna turned to look at him, as if searching for an answer, but Severus was thinking about what she said as staring out into the dawn. "I've never very much thought on the subject Luna. You've opened my eyes. No one takes the time because they are far too busy with their lives to notice anything around them. They spend their time feeling sorry for themselves and thinking that the pain that they feel won't go away. They give up because they can no longer go on," Severus said as he stared out the window, there was a very solemn expression on his face and his voice was very soft.
Luna continued to stare up at him and wondered why it was that he had not given up on life with all that he saw and all that he lived through. "You are very strong Professor, to be able to withstand all that you have lived and still continue to try in this life," Luna said as she looked up at him. She admired him for still being able to continue living his life and not giving up, especially when nothing in his life seemed beautiful or worth living for. Snape very slowly turned around to look at her and turned away, walking away from the window.
"Yes, but look what my life has made of me. I'm not exactly the most pleasant person to put up with," he said, every word dripping with disdain towards him. Luna stared at the back of him as he walked away and walked towards the door. She wondered if he was all right, and thought about his words. She wanted to say something that would comfort him. She walked over to him and placed a hand on his arm and he turned around to stare down at her.
"If you stopped concentrating on the negative aspects of your personality, you would see that a good heart beats beneath your chest," she said as she stared up at him. "You may not be the warmest person in this world, but you are caring and considerate. You've taken very good care of me and your concern of me was genuine. Not may people actually do care about me."
Severus found himself staring into Luna's beautiful eyes and felt his heart beating rapidly within his chest. Her small hand was still resting on his arm and he felt something fluttering inside his stomach. He wondered why it was that Luna was being so very kind with him for lack of a better word. "You're very unique Luna, and so is your viewpoint of me. Undoubtedly you are the only one that feels this way, for I assure you there is no other in the world."
"You shouldn't care so much about what other people think of you. It doesn't matter; their thoughts are most insignificant because they don't know who you really are. Besides, people tend to look for the bad in people before they look for the good," Luna said as she removed her hand from his arm and looked down at her hands. She found that his gaze was very intent and she hated the way it felt like he was boring through her soul. Luna looked up into his eyes and saw a glimpse of a sad glint in his dark, penetrating gaze. "It looks like it will be a very pleasant day, would you care to take a walk outside, and get some fresh air before you start your day?" Luna found herself asking, though, she did not know why.
"Well… actually I was going to go down into the lab…"
"Come on Professor, it's very nice out and I really think that we both need some fresh air," she said as she looked up at him and smiled. He reluctantly found himself nodding in response and soon felt his arm once more in her grasp and she dragged him out of the room, down the hall, down the stairs and into the back. Together they walked through the forest as she sun was coming higher into the air, filtering it's golden light among the trees. Severus was very tense and Luna clung to his arm as they made their way through the forest and she spoke to him of her summer vacations and how her father would take her to see various places in the world.
Severus slowly began to ease as she spoke to him and he soon found himself actually engaging in conversation and asking her questions about the many things that she had seen. He soon found that their conversation had turned to Hogwarts and she was telling him about her grades and her thoughts on Professor Trelawney. He also found himself interesting to hear that she loved astronomy and that she loved the names given to stars. She found her telling him that if she were to pick a name for a child she would name him after a star.
"Luna, what do you plan on doing after Hogwarts?" Severus asked as they continued to make their way through the forest. Luna merely shrugged in response.
"Perhaps a medi-witch or perhaps I will just go into the family business. I'm not sure yet," she responded as they continued their walk. By now they were starting to make their way back to his manor. "I know I have the marks to be whatever I want, but I'm not sure what I want. I think that if I were to try and become a medi-witch, they would think that I lack the concentration and severity to be one."
"Tonks lacks these things as well and yet she's still an auror," Severus said as they continued to walk together. Luna merely shrugged her small shoulder in response. At that moment her stomach growled and Severus stared at her. "I believe that we should get you back so that you can eat something. I think that I'm becoming hungry myself," he said as together they made their way back to the manor. For once, it truly seemed to Severus like it would be a good day.
TBC…A/N: Well sorry for the short chapter. I'll try to write something else soon.