Chapter Two

When Hagrid banged on the door to his quarters and pulled him away from the book he'd been reading by the fire, Severus Snape assumed he was being summoned to the hospital wing because yet another student had stolen potions or made one illegally only to have it go awry. He'd fix the little dunderhead and make sure they paid for it for rest of the term. There was always one every year that would decide to make a love potion or a luck potion, and it always went wrong. Of course they never learned, and never would.

As he passed Dumebldore, who just simply nodded at him, Severus expected to see a sixth year student behind the screen, probably misshapen, maimed or vomiting. In fact, the name Neville Longbottom was already on the tip of his tongue as he moved to see the figure on the gurney. It was not, however, Longbottom or any other of the students in fourth year. Or any year. He stopped dead in his tracks as he found himself looking down into a face he'd long ago come to terms with never seeing again.

Seraphina Starkley.

Severus felt the strength go out of his knees and he was grateful for the chair beside the gurney to sink into. Normally he didn't show much emotion beyond agitation, but right now he felt like he had taken a blow in the solar plexus and he was very thankful he was alone as he studied the girl laying there before him.

Sera was alive. Seventeen years later, she was still alive. Severus hadn't allowed himself to believe that she could be when she hadn't been found in the first month after her disappearance.

He looked down at the sleeping girl, feeling his heart in his throat. It was as if she'd been pulled out of his memories and placed on the bed before him. He was sure if he touched her lips right now they would still hold the same softness they had when they touched his for the first time.

He was sorely tempted to reach out and touch her, but he held back. It took him a moment to realize why, and then he felt another blow, though this one softer then the first. It had been seventeen years since Sera disappeared. For all logical purposes she should be in her early thirties, only a few years behind him in age. But the reason she looked so much like the girl from his memories was because nothing had changed about her.

There were things in the Dark Arts that could prevent someone from aging, several curses that could lock a person into a stasis state. They were risky hexes and it was not uncommon for the cursed person to die coming out of it. Others were left damaged, some had amnesia that couldn't be cured and some came out of it fine.

But then there was a darker possibility, one he couldn't even begin to consider just yet. There were also charms and glamours that could disguise one person as another. It wasn't a likely scenario, as even the best of these only lasted hours. However, he wanted to keep all options in mind. It was better for him if he kept reminding himself it might not be her or she might be damaged. Then he wouldn't have to lose her a second time.

Severus finally gave in to temptation and reached out to cautiously brush a piece of black hair out of her sleeping face. She only gave a soft sigh in return. He ran his hand softly over her head, feeling the emotion well uncomfortably in his throat. She was so beautiful, so unchanged, he didn't want to frighten her should she wake, but he couldn't seem to stop touching her. It had been so long since he'd allowed himself even just to touch another, he mused as he delicately traced the line of her cheekbone with one finger.

"It's really her, Severus," Dumbledore said from behind him, his blue eyes twinkling behind his spectacles.

"How can you be sure?" He replied irritably as he took his hand away, neither pleased he'd been caught in an act of affection nor that the old man had interrupted it.

"Every glamour has a way to see through it." The Headmaster smiled serenely as he came to stand beside Severus. "Seraphina has been returned, Severus."

"Are her memories in tact?" Severus carefully phrased the question so he didn't have to come out and ask the question burning into his mind right now. He wasn't sure he was ready to know if she remembered him or not, the thought of her being back was both wonderful and frightening.

"I'm afraid we don't that yet," Dumbledore looked at the Potions Master, a hint of sympathy in his voice. "She hasn't regained consciousness since Hagrid brought her in."

Severus didn't reply, he only gave the old wizard a look that indicated he wanted him to go on. He could let go of the premise that it might not be Sera, but he was still faced with fact that she might be damaged beyond repair.

"Harry Potter and his friends found her at the edge of the forest. She spoke to them briefly, told them all she remembered was waking up in the woods. And then she collapsed. They got Hagrid and he brought her here. Madame Pomfrey has examined her, and after healing some cuts and bruises, she has pronounced Sera to be in good health."

"But she hasn't come around since then?" He betrayed just a hint of concern in his voice.

"She will." Dumbledore said with certainty. "And sooner rather then later, I'm sure."

Again Severus found himself looking down at Sera. He remembered her as intelligent, vibrant, sometimes infuriatingly stubborn. After that summer he'd been eager to get to know her deeper, to find out what else she was like, but then she hadn't returned from Hogwarts. It was hard to think of her as a different, damaged being. And yet there was that tiny glimmer of hope she'd open her eyes and nothing would have changed. A foolish hope, considering how much he'd changed over the years. But it was there none the less.

"I'll stay," He said finally in a quiet voice. "For awhile, at least. When she wakes she might be frightened or confused. Madame Pomfrey might need help handling her if she were to become hysterical."

Of course, Dumbledore could see right through this bluff. And Severus knew it.