Hey,
Here is chapter 21. I give this to you with love. I hope you will love the chapter.
Enjoy,
TempeGelller.
Chapter 21: Love after Hogwarts
Hermione Granger had loved all the stories about her mother. She loved hearing her father talk about her like she was the only thing he had ever loved. Yet never had she heard her mother's words. She had only heard them in the letter. The only feeling of who her truly was. And she didn't know if the dreams were part of her imagination. If she had given words to an image she had seen.
"Hermione.." She heard Ron call her. "We're going to our first meeting of Dumbledore's army. We have to go right now!"
"Coming!" She said as she walked up the stairs towards her bedroom. She walked to her bed searching for something she needed when she was welcomed by a large box. She stared at it with fascination. Never before had she seen this box, she could only see her mother's name written on it. She opened it up. She found books inside. Some were diaries, others photobooks. When she opened books, she found pictures of her mother when she was little. She thought the girl looked like her when she was only a child. Now she saw more and more that she truly looked like her mother. She closed to book to open another one. This time it was a dairy, the date was 1st July 1978. Her mother's hand writing she had seen before, yet never this personal.
I hate everything about this house. I hate how the air is toxic, I hate the colours of the stones. I hate the windows that barely leave any light trough. I can't imagine ever being happy here, yet I can't tell Severus I hate it so much. He'll leave behind this house for me! And I can't have him to do that. He's keeping his mother with him, by keeping the house. I can't ask him to sell it, even if I did. I can't imagine having all this bad memories with me! Dear dairy, how am I going to raise a child here? There is no way she can ride her bike in this streets, she can't run around in the gardens. I would fear my child's health! I dream of a house on a hill, yet I have to settle for a house. What kind of house? The walls are dark! There is no piece of happiness in this house. Tobias Snape made sure that anything that would cause happiness was destroyed right away. I feel his eyes in this house, I feel like this house is an extension of his cruel nature. There's not a part of Eileen I can feel in this house.
I can't ask him to sell it right? I'll have to live here. For Severus' sake. For the love I have for him. Maybe I can make this house better. Maybe my daughter can ride her bike on this streets. Yet there are too many maybe's. I don't want my life to be like this. I'll try to make the best of this day.
Hermione kept rereading the words. She had pictured her mother as the most loving person ever. Yet that was very thing she hadn't seen. She felt a certain hate in the words. Hate for a house she had not seen. Hate for a person she didn't want to become. What kind of person was her mother? And would she ever truly know that woman she called mother?
Leyviena looked at the pale stones, the windows were narrow and small. She took a small step to the left and found herself in a small pathway beside the house. There was some kind of smoke between the houses. She had never smelt anything like that. There were no friendly creeks or cute parks anywhere near. She couldn't imagine having a child in this neighbourhood. She turned around to Severus, she almost wanted to ask him to sell the house. Yet she knew she could never ask him. It was the only thing he had left of his parents. She never imagined herself living in a house like this. She always feared neighbourhoods like this. She wanted to see a child smiling, but all she could see were sad kids walking around her.
"Do you have some money?" A child whispered to her. She slowly moved her hand to her pocket to retrieve some money, but Severus stopped her. He told the child to move away. He looked at her.
"You can't give this rats money." He replied. "They'll be back here every day. My father used to say."
"Your father is not a great example for caring for your fellow men." She replied, walking passed him. He opened the door to her. She had spent time in the house and she had never liked the dark colours. She always found that years passed by more when she was in the house. Now she felt the grief and negativity that was around the house. Everything coloured darker than it used to. She walked through the long hall way to the kitchen. Everything was like Eileen had left it. She turned to Severus, moving her arms around him. He had tears in his eyes, she knew that he had loved his mother. Even she loved his mother. Eileen was a kind woman who tried to do the best for her son. But even in her final moments she had regrets. Her last day she had wanted to see Leyviena. Eileen made Leyla promise that Leyla would always do the best for a child she and Snape would get. Leyviena had tried to say that Eileen would see the child, but only 10 minutes later Eileen had died. A promise was in Leyla's mind. She would do the best for their child, whatever that meant.
She stared to the kitchen. She almost felt every pain that everyone had experienced in the last 20 years. She touched his face.
"We could sell it you know." She smiled. "We buy a house on a hill. Where our child can run around. Somewhere in the south of Ireland. What do you say?"
"You don't like the house?" He stared at her with pain in his eyes, almost like she was turning down a part of him. She understood that she had asked him to sell his memories. Something she had not wanted to do, but she also wanted to leave all the pain behind him.
"Severus, were you happy here?" She turned to him. "Were there moments you were truly happy in this house?"
"When I met Lily." He smiled. "When you were here."
"But the bad totally overshadows everything." She replied.
"You can make this house good…" He stared at her. "You can do anything with it. There's a park in walking distance. There's playground. This part looks grim, but we can make it a home."
"Severus, I…" She saw how part of him broke. "Off course I can make it work. Who needs a house on a hill when you can have this?"
Who needs a house on a hill when you can have this? I need a house on a hill. I need it like I need air. I'm trapped between shallow halls and small paths. I doubt owls would make it here. Ow, sweet Merlin, what am I going to do? I promised him! I didn't speak the truth, I told him I could make a home from this house. I'm sure that is possible, yet it won't change the neighbourhood. A woman stared at me, the woman at looked at me.
"I see darkness in your future." The woman had said. "You must listen to me child. Stay away from the dark lord. He wants your baby."
I asked her what she meant. The woman's eyes coloured darker. She took my hand and stared right in my eyes. I felt that she was looking straight in to my soul.
"You know the one I'm talking about." The woman replied. "The one everyone fears. He wants your baby."
"I don't have a baby."
"You'll get a baby. You'll get a girl with light blond hair, with incredible wit. And she'll be important support the boy who lives. But he wants her, he wants your baby. You should do the best for your baby! Save your baby!"
That was the moment Severus had pulled me away from the woman. He had called her a mad muggle. Yet I had not been sure it was madness the woman had. There was something about the words she had spoken. About the words that could not get away from me. I had heard about clairvoyant and I believed it. Yet I didn't know if I needed to believe this woman. I feared her and I feared the future she lay in front of me. Why would the dark lord need our child?
Hermione stared at the letters. She took the book and ran downstairs. She needed to get to the first gathering of Dumbledore's army. She stepped next to Ron and Harry, the book in her arms. She had no idea where it came from. Someone had placed it on her bed. Maybe it was her mother, maybe it was not. But if it hadn't been her mother than who. She looked to Harry.
"I got this dairy, my mother's."
"Don't you think you should respect your mother's privacy?"
"Listen." Hermione replied. "There was a woman in Spinner's end. A woman that had some kind of powers. She knew about you, Harry. The boy who lived. And she said that I would play an important part in the destruction of Voldemort."
"So this woman…" Ron spoke. "Do you think she's still alive? Maybe she can give us more prophecies. Hermione it could just be a crazy woman. There are crazy muggle woman who believe they can see the future, but they truly can't. She could simple have been right. "
"The boy who lives? The dark lord?" Hermione replied. "Isn't it a bit too much coincidence?"
"It's a rather common thing." Ron replied. "What do you suggest that we find this woman and find more prophecies from her? We already have one of those mad woman in this castle. And you didn't believe her either. What makes this woman different? What makes you believe in prophecies all of the sudden?"
"What if Hermione is right?" Harry spoke. "What if this woman knows how we can destroy Voldemort?"
"So you suggest traveling to Spinner's end in Cokeworth, looking for what could be a mad woman?"
"Maybe…"
She looked at the finished house, the house was bathed in colours, yet still she didn't feel like home. There was a room connected to theirs that they would use for a baby. Yet she kept remembering the words the woman had spoken. She knew Severus liked their new house, he had given her a sweet smile and a long lingering kiss. It was a warm July and she stared outside. Yet everything looked sad. It seemed that people came here to die, not to start a family. She thought about everything. It was staring to get dangerous all around them. Voldemort was gaining more power and he started to abuse his power. Right that day, she decided she wouldn't watch. Severus got a job in Hogwarts. And she got herself another kind of job. A job he was not aware of. Standing up for those who couldn't protect themselves. If she had to live in this house, she would make her own choices. She would protect everyone the best she could.
She would be home when her husband was home and she would be fighting everything when her husband was away. It was that simple. The first months it seemed to go well. It was only in the second month she found her husband waiting for her at home. He was sitting in the library when she came home. She walked in, a bruise on her left and right leg. A big cut on her cheek. He stood up, touching the very cut.
"I decided to come home early, to find my wife gone." He stared at her.
"We're not married." She spoke holding her head up. "Neither do you dictate what I do."
"It wasn't meant as an order." His eyes grew softer as he pulled her in his arms. "It was meant as. I'm worried about you, my sweet flower. I don't mean to know where you are every second. Yet when you aren't home when I'm here, I get worried. Especially when you come home hurt."
"It's just a cut, it will heal." She sat down.
"It's you isn't it?" He sat down. She remembered the articles on the daily prophet about a woman saving muggles. She was very proud when she read them. Yet Severus didn't feel the same. "You're the one protecting muggles. Muggles like my father."
"Not every muggle is like your father." She replied. "Sure there are a few rot apples, but there are bad wizard too. You must remember muggles like Lily's parents."
"A muggle is not worth my wife's life!" He hugged her. "You're worth everything to me. If you're gone, I have nothing to live for. You are the reason I wake up every morning."
"I'm sure you'll be able to…"
"You have a intimacy with death that I don't like."
"I won't get killed!" She screamed.
"You don't know that." His eyes were filled with tears. "Do you want me to stay behind all alone? Don't you see how dangerous it is what you're doing. The death eaters will come after you, you are already on their hit list. Do you want me to lose you?"
"You can't ask me to give it up." She replied. "I can't know people are suffering out there! I can't know that I don't do anything about that. It was the reason my mother gave birth to me. I was meant to protect this muggles."
"Do you think any of them would do the same for you?" He stared at her. "Do you think that any of them would give up their life for yours?"
I can't believe it! He chose their side, Severus became a death eater. He said to protect my life, yet my life isn't worth it. I would rather be dead right now. How am I going to live knowing what he does to people? To muggles? We're all the same, none of us deserve torture and murder. Yet now I know that my husband will be part of that torture. All because he wanted that I didn't got hurt. My life isn't worth his integrity. My life is worth nothing. It shouldn't make him Voldemort's minion.
Hermione stared at those words. Her mother cared little for her own life and cared more about everything else. That was just that brought her to the Grangers. It was more than a year before she was born. Yet in this very words, she noticed that her mother wasn't like she imagined. She had a dark side to herself, a side that Hermione would never understand. Her mother cared nothing for her life, yet she cared so much about Hermione's life. Hermione closed her eyes, oh how much she wanted to see her mother. How much she wanted to tell her mother that she needed Leyviena alive. Yet she wouldn't been able to tell.
"So how are we going to travel to…" Ron stare at Harry. "Umbridge is never…"
"We can ask dad." Hermione replied. "I mean Snape."
"Okay, I can sure understand how that conversation is going to go." Ron said. "Dad, can you please help us find that mad woman from your home town? Yeah thanks."
"We need to know what this woman knows more about my life." Hermione spoke. "Maybe…"
"Let's make this completely clear." Ron smiled. "We have no idea what this woman looks like. We have no idea if this woman is even still alive and most importantly this woman might be a crazy cat lady who needs attention. This prophecies are beyond vague and could be about anyone."
"That's why we need to hear her out."
Leyviena hadn't spoken to Severus for a week. She had gone on her missions and she had returned home. She had taken residence in his old bedroom. She had closed the door and he had the decency not to disturb her. She stared at the window, oh how she missed Scotland in times like this. Nothing was as good as the mountains around her. She always loved them. Yet right now it seemed that she needed to be happy with a dirty river and some polluted air.
A couple of seconds later there was a soft knock at the door. She knew it was Severus. Every day around three he would ask her to come downstairs and every day she would tell him about how disappointed she was.
"Leyviena, you can't keep ignoring me like this." He said. "I did those things because I love you. I try to save as much muggles as possible. It you truly look at it, it's destroying something from the inside."
"Is that how you see it?" She opened up the door. His eyes looked at her full of pain, his arms moved around her body. He had missed her in those few days and it was clear in every movement of his body. After seconds he wouldn't release her. She felt his tears on her cheek.
"Sorry, I've been childish." She spoke. "I just can't deal with you in his iron fist."
"It's so bad." He replied. "Even I don't want to do the things he does. Plus he has put his attention to something entirely different. He's coming here for you."
"For me?" she saw how his eyes showed fear. "What does he want from me? He promised he wouldn't hurt me."
"I promised I wouldn't kill you." The cold voice came from behind them.
LINE
Oh dear, those very word. He hadn't promised he wouldn't hurt me, he promised he wouldn't kill me. I didn't know what he wanted from me, yet my mind would be aware of it very fast. I played my mind tricks on him, I played along with his scenario and it turns out it didn't include simple torture. It includes the act of love. An act only man and woman should do, something no one should force on you. Yet he forced it, in every way possible. It was clear he wanted a powerful air. An air I ought to give him. Little did he know that fake memories cannot lead to a baby. It can lead to a lot of pain on my part. That memory is burned in my very existence. I never wanted to live it, I never want to do it again.
That moment I decided I would never become pregnant. I would not bet Sev's baby, I would not get the anyone's baby. That way my child would never be able to be stolen from me. I will never be a mother and never enjoy motherhood. If I do every become pregnant, he'll know and pull the baby from my grasp.
Hermione understood why Voldemort wanted her and why he need her. He believed that shed was his child. All because he forced himself on her mother. He knew it were fake memories, but it made her anger towards Voldemort greater than ever. Not only had he harmed her friend more than once, he had harmed her mother in ways no one should ever be harmed. She closed the books and made her way to her father's office. Harry wasn't there, neither was Ron. She thought it would be better to go by herself.
"I haven't heard anything from her." He smiled at her. "I remember she wanted a baby named Hermione. That's why I was so distant towards you the first time we met. You reminded me of her."
"I need this woman…" Hermione spoke. "Do you remember a crazy woman from spinner's end? Someone who could see the future?"
"Do you believe Madge can see the future?" He rolled his eyes. "She was crazy."
"Yet she could be…" she spoke "I read that mom believed that her words had value towards the future. Harry and I believe that her words might show how we need to defeat Voldemort."
"Leyla believed the woman was something…" Snape replied. "Yet she didn't believe her that much. The very last time we saw her, she told the woman to stay behind from her. Then she said something I didn't understand."
"She said she would never be a mother." Hermione replied. "She didn't want a baby."
"Leyla wanted a child more than anything." Snape stared at her. "She wanted you more than anything. You were her whole world . Never believe that your mother didn't want you, she didn't want you to end up with Voldemort."
Leyviena moved away when Severus touched her. When she saw that it was him, she moved closer to him. His touch felt like healing. She needed his touch, yet she kept seeing those cruel eyes of Voldemort. Eyes she had never wanted to see before. Severus knew what he had done to her with one touch. It was an act even they had not shared. Voldemort had violated his wife.
"Was it real?" He asked. "Or in his head?"
"In his head, yet it felt real." She cried. "I can't get rid of the memories. I can't get rid of any memories. Is it supposed to be like that?"
"It's not supposed to be like that." He replied. "It's supposed to be filled with love."
"We could get pregnant." She shook her head. "I don't want a child. He'll take the child, he'll take Hermione. I can't have him take Hermione. If we have make love, he'll come and take my baby!"
"He's not going to take your baby." He touched her forehead. "No one is taking your baby."
"We cannot."
"There are spells to prevent we get pregnant." He kissed her head. "I just want to show you what it's supposed to be like. I want to make you forget."
"I can never forget." She turned away from him. "Ever."
"You shouldn't be reading those diaries." Snape said as they walked in his old neighbourhood. He knew where Madge lived. Harry and Ron were right behind them. They had travelled by fire place. It was not the first time, yet it felt strange right now. Hermione didn't like anything about this place. She felt the same way as her mother, trapped. She was glad that she had never lived her before. Inside the house she had seen the room she should have been in as a child. She had seen the pictures that she almost seemed to remember. It seemed there were images that she remembered. And something she almost saw her mother's smiling face, yet she thought that every of those had to be fake.
They walked on, she lived on number 394. They rang the door, there was movement inside. Inside the door the woman appeared. She was older right now, but her eyes looked to Hermione and it seemed that Madge recognized her.
"Hermione Granger ." Madge spoke. "Harry Potter. Ron Weasley. Severus Snape."
She moved aside and invited them inside her house. The house had bright white walls and it seemed that she was some different kind of witch. There were dreamcatcher's everywhere.
"To keep the evil spirts out." The woman explained.
"You've come to ask about Voldemort." She replied. "Your mother didn't believe me. I could have saved you two, I was at her door, but she didn't answer me. If only she answered, her life could have been so different."
"What do you know about Voldemort?" Harry asked. "How do I destroy him?"
"I hear the boy is over confident." Madge said. "It will need more than one to destroy a wizard as strong as him. The prophecy of July might have talked about a boy, but that prophecy was blind. It won't just take a boy, it will need Hermione as well. It wasn't just your mother who made the ultimate sacrifice, it was Hermione's as well. Leyviena would have given her life for her only child. But there is another one. A boy born in July as well. A boy whose parents have sacrificed just as much. Together you can destroy the dark lord, but only together."
"What is the prophecy of July?"
"You will learn soon enough." Madge spoke. "The prophecy speaks about a link that can be dangerous. A link between the mind of the dark lord and Harry. And Hermione, only you can protect everyone against him. Learn to block his mind and you will protect the outcome."
"Dear Madge…" Ron laughed. "If you do know the future, you must know if we win…"
"The future is not set in stone." Madge smiled. "Only one small thing can change everything."
Leyviena couldn't believe she had been this stupid. She had allowed them to make love more than once. Only once they must have forgotten those damn spells and here she was pregnant. She had promised it wouldn't happen. She had no idea what to do about the baby, she knew she needed to have the baby. She knew it would be a girl. She knew the girl would be named Hermione. She knew she would love the child more than anything . She walked down the stairs, weeks passed by. She kept the secret. She didn't want Severus to know it. He would tell the dark lord. Yet she noticed that her body changed and she knew for sure that he would notice. She still fought for the world, nothing could stop her. Yet one day when she came home, her right leg bleeding.
"Leyviena." Severus moved his hand over the wound. "You know I'm worried about you."
"I know you are worried about me." She replied. "I'm extra careful. I have more than one life to care for. "
"Leyla, what are you saying?" His eyes showed happiness. "We're pregnant. How long have you know?"
"A month or so." She cried. "I'm so scared. What do I need to do? He'll know and he'll take her."
"I'll protect you, both of you. Always."
Severus says he'll protect us. I guess I believe him. This means I will spent the days in the house, I'll read books and I take care of the baby. He says I need to make sure me and the baby are safe. I love her so much, my little Hermione. Hermione and Severus mean the world to me, I think I'm going to be able to raise her. I'm going to be able to bring her to school. I'm sure we'll destroy Voldemort. Me and Severus are finding a way. He was right, he is going to destroy them from the inside. All I need to do is make sure my little girl stays healthy. I will give everything for her. My Hermione.
"I love you too, mom." Hermione kissed the book. "I miss you mom."
Madge talks about what would have happened if Leyla had answered the door. Read that story in a change of a lifetime. Don't forget to review! Any small word is good. Thanks for the read and for the follow. TempeGeller.
