When he was finished he regarded the beast eye to eye for a moment, before in a rare show of emotion wrapping his arms around its neck and hugging it tightly, face pressed into its warm neck.
"Thank You Teddy"
The horse just nickered softly and mouthed his hair.
In the shadow of Ben Nevis as they reached Fort William, they had an encounter that would change everything.
They had passed a farm house previously, which sat abandoned yet curiously full of supplies whereas most places had been raided already, or those that hadn't had already began to work their way through their own supplies. However they soon found the answer when they entered the bedroom.
Laid out on the bed was the desicated corpses of the building's owners. Dead for many years already, enough that the bugs and gore and stench of decay and rot was long gone, leaving only the dried out remains. It did nothing however to disguise the shotgun in the man's hands or the gore spattered pattern on the headboard and wall behind them.
Fragile and wrinkled with age, Severus cautiously picked up the papers that were clasped in the corpse's hands.
To David,
We're so sorry that we never supported you, or your boyfriend. Though I understand from your aunt Muriel that he's your husband now and we are sorry that we missed your wedding, though that is nobody's fault but our own. It was wrong of me to have said those things to you, to have let you leave on such bad terms, but me and your mother just didn't understand. Fort William is a small town, we were born here and grew up here, like everybody we went to church on sundays and...
The middle of the page was stained beyond recognition so Severus skipped to the end.
... So we wanted to say we are sorry. I am sorry for what I said and sorry for what I did and didn't do. We're sorry for not saying this sooner, but we love you soon, no matter who you are, or who you love, you will always be our son. Please come back to Fort William, London's fallen and it won't be long until the other cities fall too. Birmingham will be no different, please. Please come to Fort William, you and Michael and let me keep you both safe, I have stockpiled enough food to keep us for a long time, and the farm is almost self sufficient. I ordered a wind turbine for power and your mother has been making enough preserves and blankets to see us through an ice age, so we will all be safe here.
Please son. With Love
Your Father and Mother.
There was an envelope beside the letter stamped RETURN TO SENDER and a another barely opened letter. The letter was pulled from the envelope just enough to read the first line.
Dear Mr and Mrs Jameson
As next of kin it is our duty to contact you as executors of estate and we regret to inform you of the deaths of David Jameson and Michael - ...
There had been no need to read any further it seemed, and the results were laid in front of him.
Another letter, written in shaking penmanship sat beside his leg.
To whoever finds this, take what you need and go with our blessing, for we shan't need it any more.
Hermione was waiting outside, with Teddy. She was armed with a spear and Teddy had been fitted with a quick release knot, in case she had to let him go for his or her protection.
"Is it safe?" she asked him cautiously. When they first found all the supplies in the house, they'd originally thought they had stumbled upon someone's hideout so Severus had gone to investigate, not wanting them to be caught unaware by a disgruntled survivor.
"It's safe. two dead, in the upstairs bedroom, been there a while, died in the first wave before the firebombs"
He didn't tell her how they died and when he buried them in the garden, she didn't ask him why, just left him to it as she made the second bedroom safer for them. They simply untied Teddy and let him wander as he pleased, knowing he would not leave the vicinity and would also call out a warning to any approaching dangers.
When the hole was dug, he wrapped the corpses in the bedsheets and put the in the ground with some wild valerian and lavendar he'd found, for peace.
As the earth covered he placed a hand on the soft ground.
"You may not have been able to save your family, but you may just have saved mine. Go with peace my friends, and I hope you find your sons waiting on the other side"
oOo
There was a much better cart in the barn, a more modern fibreglass thing, though the horses were long gone. All the gates tied open to allow them their freedom, a last act by the farmer and his wife before they left this world.
The Cart was bigger and made of fibreglass, which meant even though it was nearly double the size, it weighed less than half of what the old solid wood one did, meaning they had both more room for supplies and less worry about overloading the cart and pressing Teddy too much.
For the first time they filled the cart to it's absolute limits, though Hermione as always insisted on leaving a handful of items on the table in the kitchen, for any others who might pass by. The old Severus would have laughed at the woman who placed the tin of peas, peaches and cold spaghetti on the table though now from experience he knew that it could be the difference between life and death for someone who stumbled upon the place in dire straits.
What they were even more grateful for though was the small wind turbine, still packaged up and ready for construction, along with a number of water purifying supplies and other "Survival" gear. It was items like that which would make their everyday lives much easier, and Hermione took a number of hand made blankets, pillows and other items from the house to line the cart with.
Severus had arched an eye at the patchwork quilts but she held them close to her chest with conviction and said softly to him. "Someone's grandmother or mother made these...by hand, they were made with love, for loved ones and they shouldn't be left here to rot. There's not enough love left in the world to just throw it away."
His stomach twisted at her words.
Your mother has been making enough preserves and blankets to see us through an ice age.
He pulled her close, and placed a gentle hand on her stomach. "Take them all, leave none behind" He whispered into her hair. "And one day we shall tell this little one of how their grandmother made them with love, enough to last us through an ice age" Hermione chuckled at his words, and wiped her tears before kissing his cheek. "I think that's a lovely idea Severus"
They spent two days recharging and filling the cart. Before they left Hermione went to the mound with Severus, and even brought Teddy when she'd discovered lovingly hand written plaques in a feminine script on all the stable doors which were filled with horses no more.
It wasn't until Severus packed the shotgun, that she finally asked him how they'd died and he reluctantly told her. Now the three of them stood vigil for a moment next to the shallow grave, as Hermione tied a photo she had found in the house to a large stone to mark their resting place.
"Thank you Nana Maureen for blankets, I will use them to keep my family warm and loved, I even made one into a blanket for Teddy. Thank you."
She placed a small cutting of a flower, a rose into the ground.
"Thank You William for the Shotgun, and supplies. I shall use them to keep my family safe" Severus said softly and added a small cross of wood he'd made the night before.
They paid their respects to the old couple who they'd never known for a moment more, before they headed out of the farm and out of Fort William.
oOo
They passed through the next two towns and make quick work through the countryside over the next few days. Carrying more supplies than they ever had, they were still making remarkable time as the cart was so much lighter on teddy.
Their blood ran cold as they heard the screaming behind them.
Two screamers were running up behind the cart, gaining quickly.
In a second Severus had gathered up his reins up and was about to get Teddy into a run when they both froze when the screaming began anew
"HELP ME! PLEASE !"
Turning quick as a flash he realised it wasn't two screamers but just one, in hot pursuit of a woman.
Indecision warred on his face for a moment and Hermione saw it .
"Help her Severus!"
He eyed her and her stomach pointedly. "It could be a trap"
Hermione gestured to the vastly open fields all around them. There wasn't so much as a wall to hide behind.
"Fucking Merlin" he groaned as he hefted the spear into his hand and jumped into the back, Hermione taking over Teddy's reins and slowing him down to a fast walk.
The woman and the screamer were both gaining, and still Severus held steady.
The sobbing woman was an arm's length away when he shouted. "DOWN"
She dropped instantly to the ground, skidding to a painful stop no doubt but Severus had thrust his arm forward the second she went down and the spear went through the rotten screamer's skull like a knife through butter.
With one hand he pulled the girl into the cart and with the other pushed the now dead thing off his spear, and it was all done without ever stopping the cart.
"Thank Yo-"
With a strong hand he pinned her by the neck to the side of the cart.
"Strip"
She choked out a frightened and tearful reply "P-please" but the sharp tip of the spear dug under her chin and she looked to Hermione for help, though none was given.
"My husband won't touch you, not like that." Hermione said without even turning to look at her "You're covered in blood and he wants to know that you've not been bitten"
Shaking the woman began to strip off, making an indignant noise as Severus through the items off the cart though he sighed in exacerbation as he explained.
"There's one, that means there's usually more. The smell of the blood will draw them to us and there's enough of it on you without carrying those blood soaked rags"
"You could have just asked" She bit out as she stripped down to her underwear shivering and both Hermione and Severus snorted in amusement, though it was she who spoke.
"And if you would have been bitten, you'd have told us?"
The woman snorted then, and even grinned in wry amusement. "Fair point, Survival instinct's a bitch isn't it?"
Knowing she wasn't about to be murdered or molested she stripped off until she was down to her underwear and did a small twirl to show she was indeed bite-free, though did have a few nasty scrapes where she'd hit the road.
"She's clean." Severus said to Hermione and the witch looked back at him, then did a double take at the woman sat in the cart.
"I know you" She said "You went to Hogwarts...Hannah right?"
The woman looked closely at Hermione before comprehension dawned. "Granger? Hermione Granger?"
Her eyes snapped back to Severus and looked at him closely before comprehension turned to horror as she jumped up and grabbed the offered blanket from a now chuckling Severus, who'd anticipated the reaction.
"Holy Fuck you're Professor Snape. Fucking Hell I just stripped for a Professor, fucking hell I...wait, husband?!"
As one Hermione and Snape brandished their hands, showing the matching rings and for the first time Hannah took in the swollen belly on the woman driving the cart.
She let out a low whistle. "Fucking Hell you've got balls Granger." She said then chuckled in amusement "Now that I think about it, I kinda get it though, you two were both crazy smart. Well I'm happy for you. My god Lion's gonna blow his mind when he sees you!"
"Lion?" Severus asked with a question and Hermione shrugged.
"There's three of us, Lion got bit so we had to take his foot, he didn't turn thank god but the wound's stinking and he's in a bad way. I was trying to find something edible but there's nothing but mushrooms round us and not the fun kind either"
It didn't take them long to get further down the road to where Hannah and the others were staying. They didn't fear an ambush from the smiling Hufflepuff, because they were still in miles of open farmland and the only structure that provided any cover was an old sheep hut, so it was with determination and ill concealed curiosity that they made their way with Hannah to the hut.
She shouted out a greeting and the door opened, but when Severus ducked inside first his indrawn breath made Hermione quickly follow and the sight inside made her scream outloud.
"NEVILLE!"