The Letters

There was a moment's silence in which Severus tried to think of how to explain the events leading up to this moment in a way that would make him seem less cowardly but, on not finding the right words, unwillingly resorted to the sarcasm that he was used to.

"Clearly not."

Hermione was about to ask what had happened when she heard Ron's voice echoing through the dense forest, screaming her name so loudly that she jumped slightly, expecting to be drawn into yet another fight. She turned to Snape urgently, forgetting for a moment about the many questions running through her mind in order to save Ron from any more distress.

"Quick, hide it."

She hissed and he did as he was told, although he would later wonder why he had obeyed the child's orders. Just as he dropped the stone into his pocket, the red haired boy appeared and pulled Hermione into his arms, relieved to have found her, then turned to the man who had been standing with his girlfriend. His eyes widened as he recognised the professor who he had seen die only a few hours ago but, before he could ask what had happened, Hermione grabbed his arm and began to drag him away.

"But Hermione..."

She gave him a look that instructed him to be quiet, and Snape a look that told him this wasn't over.

A few days later Snape received a letter. He heard a sharp knock and when he opened the small door of his dingy house hidden in the smoky depths of Spinner's End, the bright white letter floated at his eye level. He closed the door, knowing who it would be from and having no interest in reading it, but when he turned around it appeared in front of him again. He batted it away but it wouldn't budge and, after five minutes of it following him around the house, he gave in. His address was written in elegant script on the front of the envelope and the inside held a short but terrifying note.

Professor Snape,

This letter will follow you until you reply to it. I'm going to ask you once and once only, what happened?

Hermione Granger.

He sighed at her persistence but did as he was told, although clearly not in the way that she had expected or wanted. He sat down at his old writing desk, took out his quill and a piece of parchment and quickly scrawled down the following:

Miss Granger,

I have absolutely no intention of telling you the details of my private life, nor should you be asking them. Just because you are no longer one of my students you have no right to pry. Now if you would kindly get on with your life and keep your nose out of other people business it would be very much appreciated.

Severus Snape.

He sealed the letter, wrote the return address on the front and let it fly away of its own accord. The letter she had sent him dropped and he kicked it under the wardrobe, forgetting about the incident immediately due to the object sitting patiently on his bedside table, waiting for him. He had not touched it yet, perhaps out of fear that after all these years she wouldn't love him back or perhaps because he knew he would never be able to let her go and he would simply waste away with her by his side, although this sounded perfect to him at the moment. He approached it, closing his eyes as he wrapped his hand around the small, unyielding stone. Nothing in the air changed, there was no notable difference when his eyes were closed and that surprised him, he had expected something of such immense power to be more... well, powerful. This thought flew from his mind, however, when he opened his eyes and saw her standing before him, her vibrant hair just as he remembered it, her eyes, identical to her sons but with a vital difference in temperament, gleaming in the dull light of his room and her skin pale with a translucent glow about it. Every inch of her was perfect, the same as she always had been, but no smile brightened her face, she was back but she did not seem happy about it. She spoke her first words since she had returned and they were not what he had wanted to hear at all but that didn't matter for the moment because it was her voice, her perfect voice, filling the air like a beam of sunlight, a glimmer of hope, everything he had been waiting for.

"Where is my Harry? Is he okay?"

"Yes, he's fine, but Lily, I'm here, I'm..."

He stood before her, his mouth open, tears running down his face, with nothing more to say. She didn't care, Lily didn't care, she wanted her son not him. He fell to his knees, his hand still tightly closed around the resurrection stone with a resolute hope that things would change and his eyes closed as he gasped for air. There was silence for a minute or two and then she spoke again in an almost silent whisper.

"I am happy to see you Severus, so happy."

He looked up at her, his eyes still full of tears, a broken man completely under her spell. His hand reached up to stroke her face but before it touched her translucent skin, there was another sharp rap on the door. He attempted to ignore it but the moment was gone and she was backing away from him.

"I'll be back."

He whispered before placing the stone back on the table and moving towards the door, not turning to see the room empty without her.