A/N: This is written for Myths and Legends classroom.Task five: Incorporate a guillotine as a method of execution in you story.
The story is set in the middle of the sixteen century.
Also this is written for the Back to school event, prompts used:22.(action) Being attracted/starting an intimate relationship with a friend's mum or dad. and 51.(dialogue) " Remember to blow up the candles next time you sneak out."
A huge thank you to Alice who betaed this for me!
xxx
With a shaky hand she wiped the blood from her mouth and asked in a hoarse voice,
"When do you think they will come for us?"
The man pulled her closer and looking though the cell's small window, murmured,
"Not long, my love," and kissed her softly. They were waiting for death. Death was their only certitude and their only wish after months of torture. They were treated worse than criminals and maybe, they were.
Their crime? Their love.
It had all begun years before. Princess Narcissa Black had an illegitimate son before marriage with prince Lucius Malfoy. They were to be married, but an unfortunate accident left her alone on their wedding day.
When her parents had found out, they wanted to disown her. She had brought shame on the royal family. In 16th century England, it was a great dishonor to have a child before marriage.
But Narcissa hadn't given up the throne so easily. She had manipulated the young duke of York into marrying her and accepting to be the father of her son. The young duke, infatuated with her beauty and at the same time fooled by her sweet words and promises of love, had accepted it.
He had become prince consort and had gifted her with a daughter: Cecilia Prince Black. Severus didn't treat Draco and Cecilia differently, he was a father to both, as opposed to Narcissa who had been a mother to neither of them.
She was their queen and they had to respect her, but she had never been their mother and neither a wife.
After Cecilia's birth, she had refused to let Severus to enter her chambers. The only time they met and actually spoke with one another was at the official meetings.
It was a wonder that he had fallen out of love? If he even loved her in the first place? He was so young back then. Blinded by his infatuation for a pretty princess.
He spent most of his time with the kids who adored him. He was their everything.
And that's how they had met. She was Cecilia' s youngest maid and one of her best friends, who worked at the castle to pay her father's debs. She was everything Narcissa was not kind, compassionate, loving, beautiful both on inside and outside.
But their love was wrong. They both knew that and now, they were paying for it.
With her head on Severus' chest, Hermione closed her eyes, trying to remember the first time she had saw him, when she had fallen for him…
She was cleaning Cecilia's room while she was outside for her equitation lesson. Severus had entered the room to see his daughter. He had just come back from his castle in York. When she saw him, she had dropped the pillow she was holding to the floor. They both had stared at one another, not moving, not breathing, not wanting to break the spell that had surrounded them.
Until then, she had never been in his presence this close. And even though she knew it was wrong, an act of treason to feel this way, she had always had an attraction to her friend's father. Always dreamed of wrapping her arms around him and kissing him. But she had never associated this attraction with love.
That afternoon had changed everything. While waiting for Cecilia, they had talked and discovered that they both liked similar things, they both loved books with a passion, they both enjoyed to cook and both hated animal abuse.
They had spoken more and more everyday and each day, they fell in love just a little more with each other.
She would never forget their first kiss, the first time they had confessed their feelings. It was past midnight after she had finished her duties and she was so tired that she had bumped into him, dropping the candle.
He had caught her and had picked up the candle, walking her to her room. When she had opened the door to get in, he had spun her around and kissed her roughly on the lips. The kiss was full of passion and love and she had gladly returned it, putting her arms around his neck as she had long dreamed to do. He had closed the door behind them as he whispered the awaited words, "I love you". That night, she had become his, forgetting everything…
At the beginning, she had felt guilty, not that he was as old as her father but because he was Cecilia's father. And the most important point, he was married. To Narcissa Black. And if they would be discovered, death awaited both of them.
But her love for him, their love had won in the end. They did not care about being found out anymore. And the fact that Cecilia and Draco seemed to already know and approved ,helped a lot. Slowly, the guilt had disappeared. Narcissa didn't care in the slightest about Severus, and she always spent her night with various people. If that wasn't wrong, then a love as true as theirs certainly couldn't be. They were so happy together.
Their relationship had continued for months. Each night, she would sneak out to his room, or he would sneak out to hers, and each day, they would steal a kiss or a loving glance at one another. They knew it was dangerous, but they couldn't help it. They needed to be together.
Until one night. The night he had proposed to her, asking her to runaway together. The door to his room had been broken by the royal guards, led by his wife, and they had been arrested and taken to prison. Narcissa had looked at them from the cell's doorway with a nasty grin on her face and told them: "Remember to blow out the candles next time you sneak out.", to rub in their faces the fact that they had been caught. They both knew that they will leave the cell on the day of they deaths.
And after months of torture, that day couldn't come sooner for Severus and Hermione. Their only consolation was that they were together. Narcissa, who had taken a sadistic pleasure into torturing them, had wanted them to suffer together, so they could feel each other's pain. She hated them for falling in love, and more so, she hated Hermione for stealing Severus away from her, even if he had never really been hers. He would have left her long ago if it hadn't been for the kids.
She hadn't allowed Draco and Cecilia to see them, but as stubborn as the two were, they had found a way and had sneaked in.
Both Severus and Hermione had begged them not to return and to pretend that they didn't know about their relationship. And most important, to not try to help them escape. They were terrified of the outcome if Narcissa ever found out. In her rage, she could kill her own children. Thankfully, they had listened and with tearful goodbyes, they had left.
That was the last time they ever saw them, and also, the last time they had seen a kind face. Now, they only saw the cruel ones of the guards and Narcissa.
Severus pulled Hermione even closer, knowing that this were their last moments together, and murmured, "I love you with all my heart Hermione. I don't regret a single thing. I love you." he said again, desperation clear in his voice.
"I don't regret anything either, Severus. I love you. Forever and always."
"Forever and always," echoed the dark haired man. And with that, he kissed her again. She returned, wrapping her arms around him.
At the same moment, the guards came in and separated them, bringing them out in the market where the guillotine was.
When he saw that Hermione was dragged forward, he realized that Narcissa wanted him to suffer more, to see the love of his life being beheaded before his own eyes, as he watched, unable to help her. She was blindfolded so she would not be able to see him.
He felt tears on his face as he watched her putting her head down on the guillotine, waiting for it to fall, to die while shouting "Forever and always!"
He responded in low voice, the tears overwhelming him, "Forever and always.", and he walked proudly to the guillotine. He would be joining her soon. He searched with his eyes for Cecilia and Draco and gave them a small sad smile. Then, he bent his head down, waiting. He couldn't be Hermione's husband in life, but he would be hers in death.