The night passed by in a dreamless sleep for Severus, and when he woke up in the morning, wishing that all of last night had been a dream, he crawled from his bed to find the door to his study still firmly locked. And that meant that Bellatrix was still hoarded up inside and that the pervious night was indeed, real.
Snape now stood outside his own study door, ear pressed to it again.
He couldn't hear any noise from within. Perhaps Bellatrix had cried herself to sleep as most women who lost their lovers did. But, Bellatrix, crying? The idea still shook Severus to his very core. At least he hadn't witnessed it, though, because if he would have, then he would have had to accept it; accept that Bellatrix Lestrange had finally been demolished.
Severus feebly jingled the handle of the door, but it didn't open.
The clever bitch had locked herself in for good.
He pushed himself away from the door and headed down the corridor. Upon entering his living room, Snape noticed that it was raining outside. The rain was rolling down the windows, leaving trails of water behind.
He quickly walked over to the nearest window and drew the curtains. After the events of last night, having his windows wide open didn't seem a wise decision. It was asking for a member of the Order to burst through the window and attempt to haul him off to Azkaban.
Severus sat down in a chair, but just as he'd sat, he jumped right back up.
The windows! Of course! Why hadn't he thought of it before now?
Snape crossed his living room in a near sprint and flung open the door. Stepping into the rain, wearing only pajama bottoms, with wand in hand, he closed his front door behind him and began pacing around his house.
How stupid had he been? Hopefully, Bellatrix had been too distressed to think to seal the windows, for Severus was about to break into his own study.
As he crawled through the unkempt bushes that had grown up around his house, a thought struck Severus.
Why did he want to break into his study to see Bellatrix?
Did he want to make sure she was ok?
Or did he just not like the idea of her being alone in his study, able to destroy it if she so desired?
He decided that it had to be the latter one. He couldn't actually still care for Bellatrix.
In a matter of minutes, Severus had been soaked to the core, but it would all be worth it. He'd get his study back. He crept up to the window, which he knew was the one directly behind his desk, and held his wand to the sill. With a light tap the window opened, just a fraction of an inch. It was enough for Severus to fit his hands under in order to lift the window up. A set of black drapes hung in front of the window, hopefully blocking all he was doing from sight.
He eased the window up, holding his breath as he did so. Halfway up, the window squeaked ever so slightly and Severus froze, heart beating wildly in his chest. If she heard him coming, she could react, and possibly shut him out of the whole house altogether.
He listened for several minutes, but heard no movement, and decided to push the window the rest of the way up. Slowly, very slowly, he crawled through the window, right hand still holding his wand. He perched on the sill, still hidden behind the drapes, like an overgrown bird of prey. Straining to listen again, he heard nothing once more and slowly lowered himself to the floor.
Severus stepped out from behind the drapes.
The sight that met him was something he had not been expecting to see, or rather, he had, but only the most back part of his mind.
Bellatrix Lestrange was sitting on the couch, knees pulled into her stomach, and head lowered to her knees. Her whole body was shaking all over and every now and then, she'd take in a harsh breath, causing her body to shake even more.
She was sobbing.