"You're welcome," Morpheus's voiced echoed softly. It was the first thing Severus heard when he woke up in St. Mungos.
"Oh good! You're awake!" A young mediwitch said excitedly, clapping her hands together as though Severus had done something amazing.
"No, "Severus groaned, fighting against a sudden heaviness that had settled through his body.
The mediwitch frowned at him, "Don't be silly. Of course, you are."
"I can't be," Severus objected, lifting his hand to his throat.
The mediwitch, grabbed his hand and pushed it away. "Don't touch that, dear, we still need to look you over and make sure you've healed properly. I know it must feel like a miracle, but you survived, Headmaster Snape. Better yet, everyone knows the truth now, about how you were fighting you-know-who from the inside. Mr. Potter made sure of that. You have nothing to worry about. We've all been taking such good care of you."
Severus barely heard half of what she said. His eyes were darting around the room searching for Morpheus or Freya or any sign that he was still dreaming. "No!" Severus snapped suddenly, startling the mediwitch. "This isn't what I chose! Morpheus!"
"Umm..." The mediwitch stuttered, backing away from Severus as he threw the blankets off of him. They had removed his robes, and the hospital gown they had dressed him in barely covered the necessities now that he was moving around. "You really should lie back down, Sir."
"Where is my wand?" Severus demanded, quickly going through the table and drawers next to the bed. He found his wand in the second drawer.
The mediwitch touched his arm to get his attention, but Severus quickly turned his wand on her. "Keep your hands off of me!" Severus snarled at her angrily.
The mediwitch jumped back away from him, and when Severus turned his wand back to himself to transform the hospital gown into black robes, the mediwitch ran from the room. "Madam Flora!" She cried as she disappeared into the hall.
Severus rolled his eyes and left the room, headed in the opposite direction of where he'd seen her run.
Once he was out of St. Mungo's Severus apparated. He apparated to where he thought his home with Freya had been, but it was nothing but an empty lot now. He apparated to the potions shop he had shared with her, but it was a bookstore. He even apparated out to the lakehouse he'd bought her for their anniversary. This one hurt the worst. The lights were on inside, but another family was sitting at the dinner table, talking animatedly with each other. Nothing was the same. Everything was gone.
By the time Severus made it back to Spinners End, the moon was shining brightly overhead. Severus couldn't help, but feel like it was mocking him. He shut the door behind him, went into his parlor, sat down in his chair and let his head fall into his hands.
"When you've finished moping, I am ready to be worshipped with gratitude." Morpheus said happily, his arms wide open as though he expected Severus to immediately fall to his knees and so.
The ache and exhaustion in his body immediately disappeared, replace with a rush of fury that Severus could barely contain. "Gratitude? For what?" He snarled, "This isn't what I chose! I passed your tests! Why did you send me back here? Where is Freya?"
"She's not your wife," Morpheus reminded him gently.
"What did you say?" Severus demanded, quickly moving towards him. Severus gripped the front of Morpheus' leather jacket and shoved him back against the wall. Morpheus only smirked, vanishing from Severus's grip and reappearing behind him.
"I said she's not your wife. At least not yet. Freya is my daughter, Severus." Morpheus confessed.
Severus quickly turned to face him. "Your daughter?"
"Tell me, why do think Morpheus, the great and mighty god of dreams, would bother to save the life of a mortal wizard, pull him into the dreamscape, and then take the time to test his character?" Morpheus asked, his tone of voice suggesting he thought Severus ought to be thanking him for all of those things.
"You tell me." Severus challenged, weariness beginning to catch up with him again. It left a hopelessness in his gut that he was all too familiar with. "I loved Freya. I loved my life with her. If your intentions were to take it from me and send me back here, you should have let me die in that shack."
Morpheus leaned towards him with a mischevious glint in his eyes, "Now where's the fun in that?"
"Is this all a game to you?" Severus asked accusingly.
Morpheus hesitated a moment before answering. "You're still as daft as you were when I first pulled you into the dreamscape, mortal. It baffles me that she chose you of all people. I am Mor-phe-us." He said his name slowly, stretching out each syllable as though he thought if he just said it slowly enough, maybe Severus would finally understand. "I don't play games. I play with dreams, and I am a father. Tell me, if it were you, what would you want for your daughter? An imagined life, that would only ever be a dream...or this?" Morpheus spread his arms wide. "Reality. An opportunity, around every corner, to make her dreams come true? A life always just out of reach, or a life of hope and promise? I admit, I wasn't thrilled with the idea at first. This world isn't kind...but there comes a time when every parent has to let their creation stand on its own."
"You brought her here?" Severus asked in surprise.
Morpheus shook his head, a sly smirk firmly back on his face. "No, Son. You brought her here. I doubted your ability to do so each step of the way, but you proved me wrong." Morpheus turned his back on Severus and began walking the perimeter, examining Severus' living space. Severus watched him closely as he pulled a book from his bookshelf and flipped to the back page. "Hmm...I'm taking this." He tucked it underneath his jacket and it vanished.
"What does the book have to do with Freya?" Severus objected raising his eyebrows at Morpheus's audacity.
"Nothing, I just want it." Morpheus admits.
"What do you mean I brought her here?" Severus demanded. It was a struggle just to keep Morpheus on topic, and it infuriated Severus.
"I mean exactly what I said." He answered, "You brought her here. With my help, of course, but still, mostly you. You see, as the God of dreams, I can live any life I desire. with any sleeper that I desire. If I decide to keep them, they simply stay asleep forever. However, any children I have there become dreamborn. Sleepers, like their mother, and they will remain asleep their entire lives, from birth to death, unless the impossible happens. The impossible, for what sort of man could ever, honestly and unconditionally, fall in love with a woman eternally asleep?"
Severus's eyes narrowed. He pushed himself up on his toes before dropping back to his heels, stretching the muscles in his legs as he let Morpheus's confession sink in. He stretched his fingers as though he itched to slip them around Morpheus neck, but he didn't take another step. He was beginning to understand."You didn't pull me into just any dreamscape. You pulled me into hers."
"Now you're catching on," Morpheus's smile widened. "As my daughter, she is not just any sleeper. She does have the ability to slip into the dreams of mortals, though she won't have as much control over them...that is where you met her. At some point in your life, she found you, and Freya liked what she saw, so she kept returning again and again. You knew her before you ever met her. I believe that is why you settled so easily into her dreamscape. It was already familiar to you, whether you realized it or not, and you became exactly what she needed, that clever girl. You see, the only way a dreamborn will ever wake, will ever have a chance at a real life, is if they are woken by true love. Cliche, I know, but I don't make the rules, I only manipulate them. Of course, I had to test you first. I couldn't give my daughter to just anyone. If you had failed the tests, I would have let you die." He admits with a frown. Severus's eyebrows shot up at his blatant honestly. Morpheus continued without giving him a chance to respond. "You passed them, much to my disbelief, and you chose her over reality, Severus. You chose to give up everything in exchange for a dream with her. Your love made my daughter real...so I healed you, woke you from your sleep, and brought you back for her. You're welcome."
"You also burned his hand with acid, made him fight three dragons without a wand, tried to convince him to murder someone, and then told him I was a liar who could never be anything real for him." A female voice retorted. "I'm sure we are all so grateful for your assistance, father."
"You should be." Morpheus insisted, turning on his heel to face her. "I told you to wait outside."
"Freya?" Severus breathed. Part of him no longer trusted what his eyes showed him.
"I've waited too long, already." Freya answered, her gaze finding Severus's. "What do you think, Severus?" She asked him as she moved towards him. "Should we be grateful"
Severus stepped towards her and realized he had forgotten to breathe. "Of course," He answered, his words dripping with sarcasm, "Who wouldn't be grateful for such eye-opening methods of torment?"
"I suppose your job is done, then," She said to Morpheus, turning back towards her father. "We are, so grateful, and would be even more grateful if you could find it in you to give us some privacy."
"Finally, I get some recognition around here," Morpheus sighed. Severus tensed as Morpheus pulled her into a hug, but a moment later he was walking towards the door. He hesitated with his hand on the door knob. "Oh, and Severus, should you ever mistreat my daughter, do remember...I am also the God of Nightmares. I have plenty of play things much worse than dragons."
Before Severus could reply, Morpheus slipped out of the room, letting the door snap shut behind him.
Freya nervously turned her attention back to Severus. "Are you mad?"
Severus stepped towards her, slipping one hand around her wait and the other into her hair, "Do I know you?" He teased her softly.
Freya smiled, "Do you want to build a dream with me?"