A/N: Well, hello, peeps, who likely have been wondering if I fell off the planet. Sincere apologies for not updating in such a looooong time. I offer an explanation for this on my profile here, but here we go. Very sad chapter with a total heartstopper cliffie at the end. But don't despair. I finished the story. :D Enjoy. Any errors in these chapters are totally my fault because I was so excited to post.

What Remains Behind

Severus sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the silver frame in his hands. His fingers lightly traced the face of the smiling witch whose arms were around Harry and Draco in a loving embrace. He watched her silently laugh as the boys no doubt groaned about having another picture taken with their mother. It had been five years, and there wasn't a trace of anything to lead him to believe she was still alive. He wasn't going to give up…ever. He couldn't. He wouldn't. Not again, he wouldn't give up again. He'd use every bit of strength and energy to find her. He would. He vowed he would find her, and he intended to keep that promise.

Setting the picture frame back on his nightstand, he stood up and glanced around his bedroom. That sight only made him more irritable, though. Four years ago, he had quit teaching and moved their small family to a small cottage overlooking the rough Irish Sea to get away from the pain and grief left behind that they all felt each time they entered their quarters at Hogwarts. However, if one looked at his bedroom, one would think that time had stopped. Unopened boxes were still littered about the room. Dirty clothes were strewn about the floor. In fact, thanks to the numerous boxes and dirty clothes, there didn't appear to be a floor anymore or any sort of a path for a person to follow.

His pain clearly hadn't lessened with the move. If anything, it had made it worse. Shaking his head, he sighed. His daughters had managed to put away everything they had. So why couldn't he? He needed to make a change starting today. He couldn't just let himself get lost to the darkness. He had his children, their children, to worry about.

Clapping his hand once, he sent a wave of magic towards the dirty laundry. He watched the unorganized piles quickly vanish, showing the cherry hardwood floor for the first time in years. He then walked over to the unopened boxes. However, he turned away a second later, deciding that he would unpack later. He had at least cleaned up his room. It was a start.

"Girls," he said quietly, walking into their small sitting room and taking a seat in one of the recliners near the fireplace. He didn't hear a response from either one of the girls, but he knew they heard him. When a cup of tea appeared in front of him, he glanced towards his eldest daughter.

"You looked like you needed some, Dad," she softly said, handing him the steaming tea.

"What would I do without you girls?" He watched Angel's thin smile before she walked back to the couch, sitting beside her little sister. "Anything good in the Prophet today?" he asked.

"Only more people petitioning the Minister to declare Harry and Dray as National heroes," she answered, frowning before she ran her fingers through her curls.

"Your hair is turning blacker every day, Angel. If it keeps this up, you'll have your mother's curls." He noticed her flinch immediately at the mentioning of Aurora, but he said nothing about it.

"I wished it just make up its mind," she grumbled. "Harry wrote us, as did Dray."

"I see. And what did your brothers write?"

"They wanted to know how you were really holding up. They didn't believe me when I said you were fine before. Always too smart for their own good, aren't they?" She then scoffed. "It might interest you to know that I received my letter today."

"Did you?" he responded, feeling his lips slightly upturn. "Your mother—"

"I burned it," Angel interrupted, holding his gaze. "I'm not going there."

"Angel," he started to say.

"No, Dad. I'm not going, and that's that."

Staring at his little girl in disbelief, he replied, "When did you become this jaded, my Angel?" She was only eleven. Eleven-year-olds were supposed to be happy and joyful, not full of contempt and hidden anger. What had happened to his little girl?

"Just drink your tea before it gets cold, Dad," she answered coldly, standing. She stared at him for a moment before shaking her head and walking away towards her room. Her door shut behind her.

"I've made a mess of things, haven't I, my sweet?" he asked his six-year-old daughter. The little girl with her mother's eyes just stared at him before glancing down at the paper in her hands. He sighed, rubbing the tarnished silver wedding band on his left ring finger. He never took it off, and he likely never would either. Slowly, an idea formed in his head. He glanced towards his youngest and closed his eyes. "What do you think about you, your sister, and me all going to a park this afternoon?"

The little girl's brown eyes glanced at him immediately. She opened her mouth, but quickly closed it and looked down at the ground as if she was ashamed with herself. The paper slowly slid out of her hands, falling to the floor. Sounds of sniffling then come from the poor child as she attempted to hide her tears from her father.

"Roxi, it's all right," he said, quickly crossing the bridge between them. His strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her into a loving embrace. He rubbed her back gently, softly whispering to her that it was all right. He heard his other daughter's bedroom door open again and glanced towards Angel, who stuck her head around her doorway to glance at them.

"You're doing it wrong," the eleven-year-old said, sighing as she walked towards them. She clearly seemed to be annoyed with her dad for some reason. She then glanced towards her younger sister. "Stop crying. You're just going to give yourself a headache anyway," she said, addressing the crying six-year-old.

"Angel," he rebuked. That most certainly was not the way to handle a crying child. Even he knew that. "I get that you're angry. I apologize for that. However, do not say such a thing to your sister."

His eldest daughter's eyes glared at him before she shook her head in disbelief. Everything about her screamed her anger. However, she held it in. It wouldn't do any good anyway. It never did.

However, as he held his littlest girl, he heard her sniffle softly and watched her angrily swipe the tears from her eyes. He stared at Roxi for a few moments before glancing towards Angel. Could she have been right by saying that to her sister?

"You would have known that if you would have been here, Dad," Angel snapped.

"Do not speak to me in that tone," he growled, wondering what the hell had gotten into her.

"Oh, yeah, that's right. See, Roxi, we can't get mad at him for not giving a damn about us."

"Angel Celestria Prince," he warned, glaring at her.

"Mum is dead. She's not coming back. The sooner you get that through your damn mind," she snarled. "Well, the better it will be for the rest of us. Even Harry and Draco know it. The whole damn world knows it, Dad. Why can't you?"

"You swore to your sister on your witch's oath that I'd find her. So I'm not going to stop until I do, Angel. I won't stop until I find her."

"Is that why you keep searching for her? Because I swore on that?" she asked, staring at him. "Give it up, Dad. I don't care about being a witch anymore. I haven't for a long time."

"Why?"

"Because all of the spells in the world, Dad, aren't going to bring Mum back," she said bluntly. Tears slowly slid down her pale cheeks. "You can continue to search day after day for her, but that doesn't change the fact that she's gone." When he turned away from her, Angel pleaded with him. "No, Dad, listen to me. Please just listen. Mum died six years ago. She's not coming back. I know it's hard. I know you don't want to believe it, but she's gone and she's not coming back. Roxi and I know that. Harry and Draco know it. The entire Order knows it. In short of asking Uncle Remy and Siri to beat it into your skull, I don't know how to make it any clearer. You aren't going to find her."

"I have to try," he argued.

"Look at yourself, Dad. You've been at this for six years. What have you found? More blood and more concrete, that's all. She's gone. She's dead. That building collapsed on her and killed her."

"Then why can't we find her body?" he yelled, feeling his youngest flinch in response. "Huh, Angel?" he asked. "Why can't we find her body?"

"She lost three liters of blood, Dad. No one, even Mum, can survive with that amount of blood loss. She's gone, Dad. Please just give up searching for her. We aren't going to hate you if you do. We understand. Please, Dad, please be our father again." With mostly blond hair and black curls in the back, the eleven-year-old walked towards him, sobbing as she spoke. "St-stop living in the damn past," she cried, pounding her little fists against him again. "Mum's dead. She's not coming back ever."

He pulled his eldest daughter to him and held both girls against him. He hadn't wanted it to be this way. Hell, Aurora was supposed to be with him and the girls. They were supposed to have their happily ever after, all of them. He held them tighter and closed his eyes, wishing he could take his girls' pain from them so they could be the happy eleven-year-old and six-year-old they were supposed to be.

"How," he started to say. His voice was rough with disuse and full of emotion. "How about we go to a park together today?" he offered again. He felt the girls' tears soaking into his shirt. "I know. I know, girls. Let's just—let's just go to a park today," he repeated, holding them tight. He then added a moment later, "Spend time together like a family." He sighed as he felt both girls nod against him. "Go on then, get your jackets on, girls."

He watched his girls nod slowly before they walked away together. His eldest clearly had grown up over the years. Though, he guessed she had to. He certainly hadn't been there much for his girls. He had been too focused on getting their mother back to see his girls grow up before his very eyes. He couldn't just sit there, though. He had to do something for the girls. He just had to.

"We're ready, Dad," Angel softly said, appearing beside him with Roxi glued to her side.

"Let's be on our way then, girls." He held out his hands towards them and nodded appreciatively when the girls grabbed a hold of him. "Now, before we leave, I want both of you girls to realize—"

"We're going to be around Muggles, so no magic," Angel quickly recited by heart. "We know, Dad. Roxi and I aren't going to." The eleven-year-old then knelt a bit towards her sister. "Everything is going to be fine, Roxi. Just focus on Dad and me."

He watched the encounter between his girls curiously. Just what did Angel think would happen? The war was over. It had been for years. He then caught her nod before she glanced up, waiting to leave.

"Here we go," he quietly said, apparating the girls and him to the nearby woods that was four blocks from the park. As soon as they appeared, he felt Roxi quickly press herself against him. He gently rubbed circles into her back to coax her to release him slightly. "It's all right, sweet. Angel and I are right here with you." When she gradually pulled back from him, he glanced down at smiled at her. "Are you okay now?" He frowned slightly when Roxi replied by nodding. He had yet to hear the poor child speak in her young life. Maybe she'd speak during their family time today at the park.

So, the family held hands with one another, setting off towards the park. Each of them had a goal in mind for the day, but kept it inside. See, sometime during the last pain-filled six years, they lost the ability to communicate. Would they ever regain that? Who knew?

~RWWL~

Standing off to the side, he watched his daughters swing back and forth. It was so eerily similar to when he had watched the Evans sisters that he had to look away every now and then. However, when he'd hear the soft giggles, he'd glance back and watch them some more.

He could see Aurora in both of their daughters, especially in Roxi. Angel had Aurora's curls and nose. She also had her mother's ability to empathize, even though this trait appeared to be dwindling as the years passed. Roxi, on the other hand, had her mother's eyes that were so full of life. Her laughter was an exact replica to Aurora's, and she seemed to have her mother's lack of grace, too.

"All right, girls. Time to go back," he called out to them. He caught Roxi's look of sadness instantly, but the young girl only stopped swinging and got off it. "I'm sorry, sweet. We can come back tomorrow if the weather is nice, okay?" Her face lit up for a second as she smiled Aurora's smile before she nodded and walked closer to him.

Walking on the sidewalk, they started their four block journey back to the isolated woods. The girls were quiet again, but seemed to be walking a bit more enthusiastically than before. In fact, every now and then Roxi kicked up a bunch of leaves towards her sister, giggling whenever Angel whirled around and leapt playfully towards her.

"These sorts of people are rather strange, aren't they, Dad?" his eldest asked when they were about a block from their apparation point.

"What do you mean, my Angel?"

"Look at them. They don't even seem to be wary of strangers walking their streets anymore. Have they forgotten the war that quickly? I mean, a quarter of their population was lost in it."

"To them, it wasn't a war, Angel," he replied softly. "Their newspapers reported some of the incidents as the result of arson, bombings, and serial killers. Unfortunately, all that is somewhat typical in some parts of the world."

"They don't even know," she said breathlessly before scoffing. "I wonder what they'd do if they learned that their governments had lied to them all these years."

"Likely, some would do nothing. Others would riot, I'd imagine." When he felt Roxi tug on his pants, he glanced down at her. "What is it, my sweet?" He then followed her little finger as she pointed towards someone jogging. "Roxi, it's not nice to point," he softly scolded, pushing down her arm.

He, however, glanced back at the woman running in a black hooded sweatshirt and grey sweatpants. The woman's long hair peeked out from underneath her stocking hat, airily floating behind her. His head then turned to the sound of tires squealing around the corner. Glancing back, his eyes widened as he realized what was about to occur. Within seconds, he had managed to let go of his daughters' hands and dart towards the woman jogger, who was in the direct path of the speeding vehicle. Leaping towards her, he pushed her out of the way just in the nick of time, shoving her towards the curb.

Bang! Glass shattered. Breaks squealed loudly. Something thumped the ground. Horrible screams filled the air. The driver's car door slammed shut. Black boots approached from the driver's side. Low moans and a groan of pain echoed. Harsh coughing with liquid hitting the ground followed it. The driver, jogger, and two children surrounded the bloodied man.

"Call for an ambulance! DO IT NOW!" someone screamed.

"Dad?" a soft voice whispered. "Daddy?" the voice said even quieter than before.

"He just came out of nowhere," the driver said shocked to the gathering crowd. "I-I didn't-I—oh, God, what'd I do?"

"Is he dead?" asked someone in the crowd.

"No, he's moving. Don't you see?" another person replied.

"Poor, poor man," whispered somebody. "And his children were looking on, too,"

"They're on their way," shouted a person from a stoop. "I called them, and they're on their way."

"Shh, it's all right. Shh, please don't try to speak," whispered the jogger, gently placing a hand on the victim's shoulder. "Really, don't speak. You're hurt pretty bad. The ambulance is on their way."

"M—" he said through the collected blood in the back of his throat.

"I'll bring 'em," the jogger answered shakily. "Now, just shut up until help arrives."

He groaned in response, coughing up more blood. Darkness then settled in before he passed out.

A/N: Don't despair, people. Severus is all right. It just seems rather dark. But as I always say, (okay, so I don't) in dark times, there is always a light. :D So, hint, the light is in the next chapter. :D