Author's note:

Dear readers,

another chapter for you to enjoy. Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, favoriting and/or following my story. You are truly awesome.

Have a nice Sunday,

Vani12

Chapter 3 – Heartbreaks can open your eyes to happiness!

Living room, Prince Cottage, Cornwall, December 1978

Olivia Prince-Fawley lounged in her soft, midnight-blue silk pajamas on her cream-colored, comfortable couch. Smiling happily, she sipped her favorite dark chocolate and breathed in the scent of the beautiful flower bouquet – white roses, rosé pinks, rosé, and pink chrysanthemums and purple honeyworts. Severus harvested them in their greenhouses and plucked them as a token of his love every morning for her. She couldn't believe that she could call herself Mrs. Olivia Prince-Fawley now. Her life seemed like a surreal dream come true. Being married to the love of her life, studying in her second year as a Mediwitch at the prestigious Medical School of the Merlin Institute in New York City and developing new Healing Spells for the injured and sick. Brushing her stunning engagement ring – a center sapphire surrounded by little diamonds arranged in the form of a flower on a simple white-golden band – and her beautiful wedding ring – a three-stone diamond ring on a simple white-golden band with the engraving Olivia & Severus – Forever – with her porcelain fingers, she remembered their teenaged fumblings at Hogwarts with fond smiles and played vacantly with her honey-blonde curls.

She had had a huge crush on the sarcastic, witty and mysterious boy with the sad onyx eyes and sleek ebony hair since her third year. She had admired him for his ingenious experiments in Potions, spectacular dueling skills in DADA, witty remarks in his fights with the Marauders and creative Defensive Spells in his duels with his Gryffindor bullies. Although they had always targeted him four on one, he had outwitted them with his brilliant mindset, nonverbal spellcasting, and agile movements. Whenever Olivia had encountered a duel between him and the Marauders in the corridors, she would disarm one of the Gryffindor toerags, jump in the duel on Severus's side and call out the Marauders for their cowardly bullying ways. She would report the incidents to Prof. Flitwick or Prof. McGonagall, urge them to start an Anti-Bullying-Campaign as well as to declare a No-Tolerance-Policy for bullies at Hogwarts and to reduce the prejudices between the Houses, but the Hogwarts Professors hadn't been open for her ideas. They had called them unpractical, against the competitive streak of the Houses and a pipe dream.

Naturally, they had put the Marauders into detention, deducted house points and reminded them that bullying was a grave injustice that left scars on every survivor's soul for life and unmasked the ugly personality of the bullies, but that hadn't stopped the Marauders. On the contrary, the had developed new methods and spells to stalk Severus, ambush him in hidden alcoves and put him in the hospital wing. Olivia hated them with every fiber of her heart. She was disgusted by their cocky attitudes, boastful demonstrations of their newest Quidditch moves and mocking stories about their latest attacks on "Snivellus". In her opinion, they were sadistic, air-headed and cruel bastards who felt joy and power by tormenting a lonely, intelligent boy. Whenever the girls in her Ravenclaw Common Room had swooned in giggles about the handsome face of Sirius Black, the cute smile of James Potter and the sexy scars of Remus Lupin, she had called them out for crushing on mean, self-centered and arrogant bullies. She had voiced that cruel bullies like them could never be loving boyfriends because they got off on hurting other people physically and emotionally, humiliating them in front of a crowd and turning their lives into hell. And even the devil had a handsome face. Hence, they shouldn't fall for them, unless they wanted to end up in an abusive relationship.

With a wistful sigh and shake of her head, Olivia recalled the reactions of her husband's teenaged self to her actions against the Marauders. He had glared at her with a deathly look and a deep red face, urged her to move out of his way, leave him alone as well as stop poking her nose in his business and tried to chase her off with some nasty remarks. But Olivia hadn't been easily intimidated by his harsh words, his in annoyance raised eyebrow or his angry sneers. She had felt that Severus was only rebuffing her support out of a misdirected sense of hurt pride and the experience of needing to fight his battles alone. Hell, she had known that the Gryffindor airheads and some Slytherin toerags would probably mock him for needing a girl to defend himself. The Wizarding world was a patriarchal society where women and men had two ideal-typical roles in the mindset of the Pure-bloods. Whereas the women educated the children, supervised the house-elves and supported their husbands' companies or political careers, men protected their families, managed their finances and made a name for themselves. Thankfully, some of these ideals were questioned and adapted to their modern times in the '70s, but a boy who had been defended in a fight by a girl was still a sore spot for many schoolboys.

Olivia had realized that Severus was a lone wolf who wasn't familiar with being protected by someone. His sad obsidian eyes, threadbare clothes, bad hygiene, and used books had screamed neglect, poverty, and unhappiness. In his heated fights with the Marauders, she had noticed that he was quick to anger, trained at sidestepping physical attacks and covered in bruises whenever he returned from his Summer Hols. She had feared that he was physically and verbally abused by one parent, probably his Muggle parent, for a magical parent would have most likely used spells that hurt without leaving visible marks. She had learned through the grapevine at Hogwarts that his mother, Eileen Prince, the sole heiress of the Prince family, had run away into the Muggle world, jilted her fiancé Abraxas Malfoy and eloped with a Muggle in secrecy. She had broken off all contact with her parents and the Magical world, vanished like a ghost into a little Muggle community and stopped using her magical powers. And although her son ventured into the Magical world with a vast knowledge of potions and hexes, Eileen Prince hadn't resurfaced as an integrated member of the Wizarding society again. She could never be seen school supplies and wand shopping with her son in Diagon Alley or saying goodbye to him with tears in her eyes at the Hogwarts Express because Severus had gone school supplies hunting with the Evanses and driven with them in their Ford Mustang to the train station.

In the pit of her stomach, Olivia had suspected that Mr. Snape hated magic, forbade his wife to practice it and abused her and their son for their freakish abilities. She had vowed to always be on Severus's side, be his friend and arrange some study sessions with him. Through this way, she could get to know her crush, lend him an open ear for his issues and even find a way to supply him with expensive quills, parchment and ink bottles. Thanks to her charm, excellence in Herbology and Charms as well as patient nature, she had managed to persuade a grumpy Severus into shared study sessions in the library and private tutor sessions in Potions in an old, empty classroom. She had stated that she would need his help in refining her Potions skills for her experiments with Healing Draughts and Spells. Luckily for her, Severus had been baited by the prospect of experimenting with ingredients, brewing times and brewing methods together with a sharp, Herbology-obsessed Ravenclaw who would even pay him for his expertise in school supplies. Hence, they had started their private experiment sessions in their fourth year - harvesting ingredients in the moonlight, testing out ancient brewing techniques and inventing new Healing Draughts and Potions.

Although they hadn't talked much about their private lives in their lessons, Olivia had laughed with happy tears shining in her chocolate brown eyes about Severus's sarcastic jokes, his witty remarks about their dunderheaded classmates and his adorable cut faces while he was brewing. Whenever he had spoken in his deep baritone with enthusiasm twinkling in his eyes about a new potion he had invented or an old recipe he had improved, Olivia had listened closely to his lecture, looked at him in awe and beamed at him in happiness. She couldn't fathom why this brilliant, good-hearted and kind teenager had to endure so much pain in his life. It was astonishing that his father's abuse, the Marauders' bullying and his outsider status in Slytherin hadn't broken him, hardened him against the world and turned him into a revenge-seeking, life-destroying bastard. Naturally, due to his experiences with hate, violence, betrayal, and malice, he hadn't trusted her easily and disclosed his sad life story, but she had managed to gain his respect, pique his interest and build up a friendship between them. She had realized with hopeful butterflies dancing in her stomach that he relaxed visibly in her presence, gifted her with some smug grins and cheeky smiles and asked her for her expertise on Spell theory and Herbology.

But her butterflies had drooped their wings, whenever she had seen him gazing dreamily at Lily Evans, zoning out on their academic discussions and longing to kiss her rosy lips. She had known since she had encountered Lily Evans and Severus Snape in the Hogwarts Express in their first year that Lily was his best friend, guardian angel and sole source of happiness. He had defended their friendship to his Slytherin housemates despite their calls for cutting off all ties with the "filthy Gryffindor Mudblood" and their threats of making his life a living hell in Slytherin, helped a struggling Lily to battle her homesickness and self-doubts of not belonging into the Magical world and smiled at her like a boy in the candy store whenever she spent time with him or gave him a friendly hug. Olivia had known since their second year that Severus was in love with his best friend because he had only had eyes for her and looked at her as if she was the most beautiful and intelligent girl in the world. But Olivia had also guessed that he would never confess his love to her thanks to his low self-confidence, nagging self-loathing and negative self-perception of his looks. According to Severus logical thinking, Lily would never choose someone like him as her boyfriend – one socially awkward, ugly and poor Slytherin boy who loved to read Dark Art tomes and sneer at every dunderhead with a sarcastic remark on his lips. No way. Lily's boyfriend would be a popular, handsome and rich Ravenclaw boy who loved to dance and be the highlight of every party with his funny stories.

Hence, Severus would be satisfied with loving Lily from afar, protecting her against evil and seeing her live a happy life. It had broken Olivia's heart every time she had seen him look at the redhead with love in his eyes. Naturally, Severus hadn't talked to her about his feelings for Lily. And although it had bothered Olivia to see him waste his love on a girl who didn't deserve him, she hadn't risked their tentative friendship by confronting him with his blind devotion to a bigger-than-life girl. In her eyes, Lily wasn't the kind-hearted, humble and extraordinary teenaged girl everyone made her out to be. She was actually quite shallow, mean and fake. Olivia had observed how she laughed with her girls' squad about the pranks that the Marauders' were pulling on their favorite target Severus Snape. What kind of person laughs with her mean girlfriends about the misery of her supposed-to-be best friend? Besides that, Olivia had noticed that Lily's group ranked the boyfriend potential of the boys at Hogwarts according to their looks, popularity, family background and sports skills. What kind of person chooses her boyfriend based on his looks and the Galleons in his Gringotts' account?

Olivia had sometimes wished that Severus would overhear one of Lily's nasty remarks about him and see her ugly real personality. But she had known that encountering the unmasked Lily would break his heart into million pieces, increase his self-loathing as well as feelings of being unloved and throw him in a downward spiral. In the back of her mind, it had dawned on her that the breakdown of Severus's and Lily's friendship was inevitable because Lily had gotten more upset with his Dark Arts studies, his life as an outsider at Hogwarts and his sour personality every week. It had almost seemed like as if she had given up on Severus like some teenaged girl would give up on her broken, threadbare Barbie doll. Severus had shown her a world of wonder, entertained her with stories about the Magical world and helped her to feel welcome at Hogwarts. But with the years she had noticed that he couldn't help her with becoming a popular girl at Hogwarts and he had bothered her with his fascination in the Dark Arts, sarcastic remarks and unfitting, washed-out second-hand clothes. Their constant fights, his refusal to cut off all ties with his Slytherin housemates and paranoia with the Marauders, had shown her that he wouldn't change his ways according to her wishes. He had lost his magic and allure in her eyes. Hence, she had needed to wash her hands off of him. And the horrible attack on him in front of the Black Lake and his in anger, embarrassment and hurt pride shouted insult "filthy Mudblood" had given her the perfect opportunity to leave him on the curbs while taking the high road out.

Olivia shed some bitter tears, clutching her cup of hot chocolate tightly between her hands for comfort and warmth, as she remembered how she had encountered a tear-stricken, devastated and covered in his own blood sixteen-years-old Severus in a dusty classroom in the Slytherin dungeons. She had frantically searched every alcove for the heartbroken teen for she had noticed with a heavy heart that he hadn't bothered to show up to his classes, their study sessions or their experiment hours in the Potions lab. She had tried to comfort him after his fallout with Lily, tracked down a sobbing Slytherin behind one set of armor and encouraged him that everything would go to be all right. But he had flinched away from her touch, sneered at her words and chased her away with an anguished-sounding shout - "Leave me the hell alone!" She had respected his wishes reluctantly, albeit she had vowed to not let him battle his heartbreak and bullying alone.

The blonde had felt that Severus had been at a critical point in his life. If he let himself be consumed by his depression, self-loathing and heartbreak, he would be easy prey for the Slytherin pureblood supremacist, the allure of the Dark Arts and his self-destructive ways. She had needed to get through to him, point out that his life wasn't over and that she would always be there for him. Although she had realized that Severus would most likely try to block her out of his life and wallow in his misery, she had hoped that their blossoming friendship and shared passion for academical experiments would be the key for winning his trust and love. She hadn't been in the crowd by the Black Lake, but gossips about Snivellus hanging upside-down in the air, exposed in his boxers as well as at the mercy of his bullies, and his unforgivable lash out at his only friend, had circulated all around Hogwarts. She had lost her temper with the cruel, arrogant Marauders, hexed them with Bat-Bogey Hexes and called them a bunch of lying, cowardly, evil and dark monsters that all Gryffindors should be ashamed to call their housemates.

In the days after the attack, she had noticed with worry and a bleeding heart that Severus hadn't bothered to eat in the Great Hall, take care of himself and attend his classes regularly. He had hidden away in the dungeons, looking like a lonely, heartbroken boy who had lost his will to live. His huge obsidian eyes that normally sparkled with a keen mind and a mischievous glint had looked empty and tear-stricken, his alabaster skin had looked caseous and sickly and his shoulders had been more hunched over than ever. Olivia had felt the urge to embrace him tightly, be his source of comfort, hope, and light and protect him from himself. When he hadn't shown up in their secluded Potions classroom for the second time in a row, she had had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach and had realized that she needed to find him. She wouldn't be chased away by his angry shouts, sourly nature and depressed mindset again. Hence, she had rushed through the dungeons, ignored the angry looks and buzzing gossip of her peers and prayed to Merlin that he would be okay. Out of breath, she had found a bloodied, sobbing and black-dressed heap on the dusty floor of the dungeons who was cutting himself with his wand, graving the pain to feel something and punishing himself.

In shock, she had disarmed him, embraced him tightly and healed his wounds, whispering sweet nonsense in his ear and promising him to always be his friend. Feeling his sorrowful tears falling on her shirt, his rapid beating heart jumping against her chest and his labored breaths brushing her forehead, she had clung to him desperately and vowed inside of her mind to show him true love. She hated the shallow, cold social climber Lily Evans and conducted to cure him of his unhealthy obsession. Thank Merlin, Severus had accepted her comfort, listened to her encouragements concerning his academic and personal future and pulled himself out of his dark hole. For the last week of their fifth term, they had met secretly in the Room of Requirement, lounged side by side on a comfy couch and talked about their holiday activities, planned experiments as well as hobbies.

He had also opened up about his tough home life – although he had blanched it over by stating that he had to deal with an alcoholic dad and a depressed mum who were fighting constantly about money – and his broken friendship with Lily – although he had still painted her in goddess-like colors. But their chats had ensured that he communicated with her via owl and the messenger Patronus frequently over the Summer Hols and his two-weeks-stay at her home helped to heal his heart, pump up his self-confidence and establish a deep trust, understanding, and friendship between them. For the first time, she had felt that her dream of living a life full of love, happiness, health and academic excellence with Severus wasn't her pipedream but her fate. And her lucky stars secured that Severus had fallen deeply in love with her, forgotten all about his hormone-driven, lust-filled obsession with Lily Evans and understood the magic of true love.