Disclaimer: I own nothing, but my thoughts of AU and OC, the rest all belong to J K Rowling.

Chapter 43

Apparating with a nearly barely conscious Snape was a task, Remus would remember. Even with his werewolf capacities, he realized Severus Snape could be lithe but he was powerful and had maintained a physique that was hardened through the many beatings it had received throughout the years of his submission at the feet of the Dark Lord. The man had kept on whispering throughout the trudging journey from the apparition point near to the Shell Cottage to its warm and cozy living room couch, "I am sorry, I am sorry, I am so sorry, Harry, Lily, Hermione…"

With a toddler at home, who could now speak gibberish with some actual words, Remushad felt remorseful. How many times had he not given in to Ted's persuasion to play along with him, or to stay back at home, take him for a broom ride…And how many of those several times did he have to refuse the tearing-up toddler? He would still go back every night to watch the child sleep. And here was a father apologizing for neglecting his child, whom he didn't even know was his in the first place… Remus whispered back to Snape, "We are all sorry, Severus, and now we need to get things right. Hold on mate, you are the strongest wizard we have known of. Hermione needs you!"

"Hermione…my…Hermione…"

Harry had walked to the door ahead of them and knocked at it feverently. A very pregnant Ginny Potter opened it for them, and the very next moment she was hugging her husband with all her might, mumbling with tears running down her cheek, "Oh! You are safe, you are okay, never, never frighten me like that Harry James Potter…" She had then looked over to the approaching group. For the first time, she had desperately wanted to comfort the grieving professor she had hated all through her school life. Harry helped her inside, in order to make room for the others to enter.

When they lowered his prone body on the couch and wrapped him up in soft and warm quilts, he felt numb. He kept his eyes shut. How would he manage to look back at all those faces around him? These people were absolute examples of people who were great at nurturing families, loving their kids, standing beside their loved ones, dying for them, living with them, fighting and making up…on the other hand, he was an absolute pauper. He had failed to be strong for his Lily, He had loved her with all of his heart…But he had failed to save her, failed to be with her, failed to see past his immediate despair, the death of his mother, his greed for power, his hunger for praise and appraisal… The sight of Harry and Ginny holding on to each other at the door had drilled holes in his heart. And Snape simply refused to see, hear and feel the comfort of home.

He heard the fireplace roar, followed by new voices talking in hushed tones. He had felt soft hands on his forehead, a familiar female voice coaxing him, "Severus, dear, look at me."

"Please Poppy…", fresh tears started rolling down his cheeks and he turned his face and burrowed himself into the backrest of the crouch.

"Severus, don't you see how much you cared for the girl…"

"Go away, Poppy, don't be ridiculous."

"But Severus, I wasn't the person sitting beside, Miss Granger's bedside, during those long nights, while she had been petrified by basilisk, neither was I checking on her after her brush with death at the Ministry of Magic incident…it was you…"

"She hates me…she must hate me…"

"No dear, that girl loves you unconditionally. Never for once did she leave your side dear, while you had been healing from Nagini's bite. She kept writing to me, asking me about your health. That cheek was clever to throw in the names of other professors, but I could make out about whose health she was actually concerned about."

"Poppy, I told her in her face, 'Get Out'…I am such a horrible person…"

"Like a father, like daughter, stubborn! she never actually left…"

"I know, she would try to ease away my nightmares, she would sit beside me, I often found a strand or two of chestnut hair on the bed, and…you knew…!"

Turning towards the mediwitch kneeling close to his head, he had sat up, "You knew she was the person to leave those bouquets…" turning to a quietly weeping Minerva, who had been standing behind Madam Pomphrey, "and so did you…that very first day, I found you sitting on Hermione's chair, with a bouquet of Baby's Breath between your paws…you both knew!"

"No, we didn't!", Poppy chastised him in return.

"We knew, she was leaving behind those flowers, but we never knew about their significance…"

Laying down and throwing his hands over his face, he moaned into them. When realizing his folly, he sat up and threw away the layers of throws they had wrapped around him, "Move off me, I need to go, I need to go now!"

Both Minerva and Poppy held on to his hands and forced him to sit down. "You are not going anywhere."

In desperation, he yelled back at them, "You don't understand I left…on Lily's grave."

An unsure voice from the other side of the room broke into his hysterics, "Sir, I got them."

Spinning around, he found Harry, holding out three small items in his hand, walking cautiously towards him.

He leaped forward and grabbed on to them. The letter, perhaps the last one, ever written by Lily, the glass globe, still holding in the very first Baby's Breath bouquet Hermione had given him, and the case he was still to have a look into, the very one Molly had been guarding for all these years. Gracelessly, he walked back to the couch and dropped on it, hugging those dear pieces of memories that tied him to people who cared for and loved him.

Minerva dared to sit beside him, keeping a hand on his shuddering arm, "Severus, I thought you would also like to keep this one on you, you had left this at Hogwarts."

Turning his head, he found it was the same unattractive looking fat envelope that Griphook had kept on his desk before his grand reveal. He could taste bile in his mouth. He wanted to pound the goblin to his death and on the other hand, he wished he did not have to owe that bastard a thank you. Without a word, he took the offered item.

Poppy offered him a phial. Looking up at the mediwitch questioningly, he got back an encouraging answer, "A pepper up potion, with a mix of Dreamless sleep, your own handiwork, potion master." He gulped down the potion and eased himself on the couch. From this new position, he could see outside the cottage window. There were oddly dressed people standing in a uniform row outside.

"Who are they…they look familiar…"

The others in the room had rushed to the window and gasped at the sight that greeted them. The Shell Cottage was now surrounded by a small company of "Knights of the Undead". Even in this serene pre-dawn ambiance, their deadly presence had stuck horror in each one of their hearts.

Minerva turned her head to reply, "The Knights of the Undead. Do you remember Griphook talking about them? They have been appearing at random around you ever since. Severus…?"

The youngest headmaster had fallen asleep, with his array of collectibles still tucked safely within his hands.

A/N: I have managed to compile a new fic called "Scars" feel free to read it, follow and favorite it. Your constant support encourages me to keep writing in these tough times.