Chapter 41: Residing In Silence

{A/N: Here's another Update}

My Thanks To All My Readers And Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.

The Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts...

Another sleepless night and the day was back to being filled with problem after problem. The ebony clad Headmaster stared out the rather large window taking in the sorry sight of what Hogwarts had become. It had been as if the coldness that filled him seeped out into the very heart of the school and seemed to reflect his inner agony. With a sigh Snape sat down at his desk and organized the budget for the upcoming year. Oddly enough he had been much more proficient than Albus at organizing and completing all the school related paperwork. He handled his day to day responsibilities as efficiently as he had his duties as Head of Slytherin House and Potions Master.

He had decided to skip breakfast in The Great Hall.

No one wanted to eat with the murderer of Albus Dumbledore and he had not wanted to deal with the awkwardness of sitting through their hateful glares as if he had not a care in the world.

He tried to keep himself busy.

He tried not to think of his young wife and her hardships out in the uncertain world searching for Merlin knew what at the behest of the late Albus Dumbledore. There were dangers all around and he was actually more than happy for her not to have returned to the school. She was protected by her friends and the order of Phoenix for whatever flaws they had. She would be safe. It was one of the reasons he had decided to go ahead with Albus' plan.

A world without The Dark Lord was a world where Hermione could reach her full potential without fear or threat of death due to her blood status. She would have a proper place when she raised their future son and it was more than enough to keep the dour wizard going. The thought that he was enduring all of this strain and chaos just so his son would have a better life in the future was enough to get him out of bed in the morning.

Later...

Snape had not been surprised to see Luna Lovegood back in his office. She had again defied Amycus Carrow and it only served to have her brought before The Headmaster. Snape rolled his eyes after Amycus went into detail on the list of "crimes" committed by Luna due to her carefree spirit and beliefs. The young Ravenclaw smiled when she found herself alone with Snape once more. He had been uncomfortable in her presence. She had clearly unnerved him the last time she found her way in the office.

"Are you injured Miss Lovegood?" asked Snape in as plain a tone as possible.

"It's a small wound but it will heal." she replied in a dream like tone. "You were thinking about your son...you wonder if he would approve of how you have handled things."

Snape ignored her.

"I know you still love her." said Luna in the same tone. "You worry if something is going to happen to her that you can't protect her from."

Still Snape stayed silent.

"She hasn't forgotten you Professor." continued Luna. "She's just really confused...it'll pass."

"Are you done?" asked Snape annoyed. "As amusing as your little gift of insight is, I do have work to attend to."

Luna gave him a small smile.

"You're going to be a good father Professor." she said before taking her leave of him. "You shouldn't be too hard on yourself."

Snape rolled his eyes once more as she disappeared out the door leaving him to his work and his thoughts.

Much Later...

Snape's Quarters, Slytherin Dungeons, Hogwarts...

Sweat poured off the trembling Potions Master in waves. He sat up in the center of the large black four poster bed he use to share with his young wife. His raven hair stuck to his pale shoulders equally soaked from his perspiration. Another night terror. This one more vivid than the last. He couldn't get the image of Hermione's terrified face out of his mind. They were on the move of course. No reason to believe they wouldn't be given what Dumbledore had asked of them.

Snape climbed out of bed and made his way toward his front room wearing nothing but his usual worn black trousers. He made a B-Line for the firewhiskey and drank it down almost as soon as he had gotten it into the glass. It did little to calm his nerves but it was the only thing he could think of to warm himself.

"That's not going to help you." said a concerned voice from the darkness of the room.

"Sod off old man." replied Snape downing another glass. "You don't get to be the voice of reason here."

There was an exasperated sigh and the orange glow from the fireplace illuminated the room just enough so that sad blue eyes could be visible. Snape had not been surprised in the least and continued to drink down his firewhiskey.

"Severus." said the voice of none other than Albus Dumbledore. "You're not going to find any answers in the bottom of that bottle."

Snape whirled around on the older wizard with rage burning behind his obsidian eyes.

"Since when do you care!?" he said outraged. "All I ever was to you was a pawn in your little chess match against The Dark Lord!"

His words seemed to put the older wizard to shame.

"You are right." said Dumbledore with a sigh. "I did not care about you or what I put you through...I was only interested in stopping The Dark Lord before he hurt anymore innocent people."

Snape scoffed.

"Innocents die every day." he said bitterly. "Only you never gave a damn about sending them to their slaughter."

Again Dumbledore had been shamed.

"I can never make up for the wrong that I have done to you, Severus." he said. "I won't even pretend that there is such a way that I can."

"I don't need your help." said Snape bitterly. "It's too little too late for that...and don't worry...I'll see to it that your precious Potter ends this war in true Gryffindor fashion."

He took another drink before throwing the empty glass in disgust at the fireplace causing it to shatter.

"Severus." said Dumbledore in a sad tone.

"Leave me alone." said Snape making his way back toward his bedroom.

He slammed the door hard enough to cause Dumbledore to jump slightly at the rage behind it.

The old wizard had been most surprised when he opened his eyes to find that not only had he not been dead as so many including himself had believed but he was inside Hogwarts in Snape's private quarters. The Head of Slytherin explained all too smugly that instead of letting Dumbledore die a martyr's death while he became so vilified in the eyes of the wizarding world, he simply used a potion to stop his heart and feigned the fall and flash of green light mimicking the killing curse to appease those who needed to believe the old man dead.

Snape had waited until after Voldemort retrieved the Elder Wand of course and brought the old wizard back with a well crafted antidote that had taken him months to brew exactly. Dumbledore was at first furious that Snape would stoop so low but the young raven haired wizard paid him no mind. He reminded him of all his underhanded deals and tricks in a bid to get his way.

"I learned from the best." was simply Snape's response to Dumbledore's fury.

Hermione had been on the forefront of the dour wizard's mind when he concocted this little ruse and it was why he could not bring himself to actually kill the old goat despite having more than enough of a reason to.

When he became Headmaster, Snape simply stashed the old fossil in his old Quarters where no one would be any the wiser and Hogwarts obeyed his ever command as Headmaster so no house elf, Ghost, nor portrait could reveal his secret. So Dumbledore stayed in the Slytherin Dungeons he had loathed since his own school days right under the noses of everyone in the wizarding world very much alive and well.

Meanwhile Snape was scorned and hated for the man's apparent death and weathered it all as if it were just another day in his long and miserable life. Having been forced to really see what toll this war was taking on the dour young wizard and how he endured it all without a word, Dumbledore had begun to feel the sting of remorse for his actions regarding the younger man.

He tried to advise and help him when he could only to be met with hostility and indifference. Dumbledore didn't blame Snape for his feelings, he had every right to hate him given his treatment from when he was a boy of only eleven to the moment he was to kill the elder wizard. Dumbledore saw first hand the scars left on Snape inside and out as well as his apparent self-loathing.

He wished there was something he could do to make it up to him.

Sadly, he would have to wait until the end of the war to do so, as Snape hardly came around and his being alive was a closely guarded secret. Snape's Quarters were unreachable given how much the castle shifted and changed under Snape's direction. Only he could access them unless instruction was given to another.

Defeated at least for the moment, Dumbledore sat back down on the sofa and attempted to get some rest of his own. It was to be another long and agonizing day for the young Headmaster and an even longer and more agonizing day for the imprisoned older Headmaster. News on Harry Potter and his friends had been scarce. What little was known about their progress had been too coded to make out. The best anyone could do was hope that everyone would make it through this time. Giving way to hope had not been one of Snape's strong suits.