Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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Severus opened his bleary eyes to the cacophony of war that rang out in the distance.
Somewhere in his blurry vision, the shape of a face came in and out of focus as a familiar voice begged him, "Professor!...Professor Snape, can you hear me?! Hold on!...Hold on!"
Severus sighed tiredly as he gave in to the exhaustion his blood loss had caused and let himself slip into unconsciousness.
While he rested in hopes of meeting death's bitter embrace at last, Harriet Potter gripped his black robes and shouted over to Hogwarts' healer, "Madam Pomfrey! MADAM POMFREY! QUICKLY!"
Across the battered Great Hall, while the Battle of Hogwarts raged on outside, Madam Pomfrey glanced up from her current patient and met Harriet Potter's wide-eyed gaze of mortal dread.
"I'll be right there, Potter! Give me a moment! Too many are in dire straits tonight!" She snapped as she quickly finished mending an injured wizard's arm before she hurried over to Severus.
Harriet stepped aside once the castle's healer knelt next to its fading headmaster, but she refused to leave him.
In the chaos of that dreadful night, Madam Pomfrey began her heroic effort to save Severus Snape's life.
Harriet gladly assisted whenever and however she could, even though that mostly meant handing Madam Pomfrey the gauze bandages she wrapped over the gaping wounds on Severus's throat.
Shocked by the events of the night, no one noticed the grim mask of woe Harriet's face had become as she stared down at her suffering professor.
Harriet Potter had returned to Hogwarts prepared to lose her life.
She had put on a decent ruse.
Her facade had convinced everyone the entire opposite of the truth.
Harriet Potter did not hate Severus Snape.
It was taboo, it was odd, and to many, the notion would have been unbelievable, but Harriet hadn't been afraid of harm befalling herself during the war's final battle.
Instead, she had been afraid the man she secretly cherished would meet his end.
As Madam Pomfrey frantically continued her work, Harriet sincerely hoped their combined efforts of rescue and care would be enough to prevent her darling Severus from passing into the next world.
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Severus expected death.
A part of himself desired it badly.
Regardless, as he blinked his eyes open sometime later, he stared up at the bland, white ceiling of a St. Mungo's hospital room.
He blinked for a moment before a voice spoke, "The war's over. We won……They transported you here once Madam Pomfrey stabilized you."
Severus looked in the direction of the sound and grimaced.
His dark eyes narrowed once he found his least favourite student seated in a metal chair across from his bed.
"Sorry…..I didn't mean to startle you." Harriet said quickly as she extended a cautionary hand towards Severus.
He opened his mouth to snap at her and demand she leave, but instead of words, a dry, gasping gurgle came out.
His expression twisted in shock until Harriet explained, "Don't try to speak! The healers said your voice will return in a week or two. A part of your larynx was damaged, but they're repairing it………I know you don't want to see me, but I didn't want you to wake up alone."
Severus closed his mouth.
Although his hatred for Harriet ran deep, her unexpected display of thoughtfulness touched him.
No one had shown him such consideration before.
"I……also wanted to tell you something." Harriet nodded.
Severus blinked.
Harriet glanced down at her lap and took a deep breath.
Severus furrowed his brow in bewildered concentration as he wondered what she would say.
She gathered the courage to meet his dark gaze as she slowly admitted, "...I'm sorry."
Severus scowled in disbelief.
"I'm sorry for……for everything, Professor. I'm sorry I've been a prat in your class and out for the last seven years. I'm sorry I've thought you were the villain all along…..I'm sorry for everything I've ever done and everything I've ever said that caused you any harm." Harriet confessed. She stared into Severus's dark eyes as she nodded and added, "I do wish I could tell you why, Professor."
Taken by complete surprise, as Severus scowled at Harriet, he had never wanted to speak as badly as he did in that moment.
"...I took your tears to the Pensieve, as you asked." Harriet continued.
Severus's chest clenched.
He listened to her closely as she held his gaze and nodded again, "I….I don't know what to say besides…….thanks. Thanks for….for everything you've ever done for me…..and for my mother."
Severus's chest swelled with pride as he drew a deep breath.
Between his return to consciousness and Harriet's strange confession, a part of him wondered if he hadn't died only to be transported to some austere other world?
Harriet met his black stare for another moment until she sighed and stood to her feet.
A part of her longed to confess her true feelings for Professor Snape, those unwelcome emotions that extended beyond simple gratitude and humble remorse.
There were plenty of other omegas Harriet's age who had fallen in love with older alphas. She knew she wasn't the only one, but she still dreaded facing Severus's brutal rejection.
After the war and all its horrors, Harriet couldn't bear to see the disgust on his face when she suggested that perhaps, they could be……
They could be……..
The silence in the room seemed deafening as Harriet stood by Severus's hospital bed.
He stared up at her with his usual, unreadable expression.
The many bandages across his throat broke her heart.
"Right." She nodded as she forced a small smile on her face, "I'll let you rest. If you need anything, contact me…..or Professor McGonagall. She told me to mention she can't wait for you to come back. I never realized you two were such close friends. You should have seen her face when they took you from the castle and brought you here."
Severus frowned as Harriet left his hospital room.
Although she remained the bane of his existence, a weight pressed on his chest as he contemplated the finality of her departure.
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A month later, upon his release from St. Mungo's, Severus returned to the headmaster's office and found a gift basket filled with various potions, candies, and an assortment of fine quills waiting for him on his desk.
Certain it had been a present from the staff, his black eyes narrowed as he opened the attached note and read the recipient's signature:
Harriet J. Potter
It irritated Severus to spend the next ten minutes writing a thank-you note.
After he mailed his letter to Harriet that morning, he paused to brood for a while.
No one else had ever sent him a present before.
No one at all.
Regardless of Harriet's motivations, Severus's gratefulness extended more than his penned words could express.
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To Severus's surprise, Harriet replied to his brief note.
After he received her response, he sent his own reply, which she promptly answered again.
Letter out.
Letter in.
Letter out.
Letter in.
Not every day, but at least every week, Harriet and Severus exchanged written communications.
Hogwarts' bristly headmaster gradually became pen pals of sorts with his least favourite former student.
As weeks turned into months and months rolled into years, their bizarre acquaintanceship blossomed.
To Professor Severus T. Snape,
I hope you are doing well and that the winter recess planning is going smoothly. I prefer the castle this time of year, actually. It's beautiful with its grounds covered in white and the smell of nutmeg in the Great Hall. The Auror Programme's last year has been the most difficult yet. I can't seem to master the Wand-Flinging Curse. I'm not quite sure how I'm expected to defeat a ringenetal until my skills improve.
Kind Regards,
Harriet J. Potter
To Miss Harriet J. Potter,
It is my sincerest hope that this letter finds you in good health. Yes, winter recess planning has almost been completed, although it seems fewer students choose to stay at the castle with each passing year. Perhaps this is best for families. A ringenetal should be nothing after your triumph over the Dark Lord. Hold your wrist steady when you speak the incantation, Potter. If you lack the muscular control to do so, I would advise swallowing a few drops of Strengthening Solution to guard against the force issuing from your wand.
Sincerely,
Professor Severus T. Snape, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Severus was hesitant to inwardly admit exactly how much he looked forward to receiving Harriet's written lines.
Harriet reread each of Severus's letters until she could see each curve of his elegant handwriting clearly in her mind.
Sometimes at night, she fell asleep with the parchment he had scrawled on pressed to her chest.
Harriet had accepted the tragic truth that the man she loved would never return her sentiment, but nevertheless, Severus's letters remained a balm to her bleeding soul.
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Three years after the Battle of Hogwarts, Harriet and Severus continued to write to one another.
Despite the valiant efforts of St. Mungo's healers and his own body's willful dedication towards recovery, Severus's old injuries plagued him.
His muscles often ached from the echo of Nagini's poison.
Phantom pains ghosted across his throat from the gash Voldemort had opened there.
A week before the castle's yearly summer recess began, McGonagall frowned at her friend while he led a morning staff meeting.
Once Severus's speech concluded and the other professors left the room, McGonagall approached him with a frown of concern, "How are you today, Severus? You look exhausted."
"Forgive me, Minerva, but I am exhausted." Severus sighed tiredly as he walked over and sat at his desk, "Since the war, it's been as if my body is no longer my own, merely some repaired, disingenuous heap that's been returned to me."
"Have you seen the healers?" McGonagall frowned.
"A hundred times." Severus grouched, "At each visit, their answer is the same……..This is the reality of existence I now face and there's nothing further they can do."
"Perhaps it's time to consult different healers, then." McGonagall suggested.
"I've been examined by the best in Britain." Severus frowned.
"Well, Severus, you need to be examined by better." McGonagall shrugged, "I was once very ill in my early youth, until I visited a small island near Greece…..A resort named Palingan's Tempest. Have you heard of it?"
"...No." Severus replied.
McGonagall nodded as she went on, "They have excellent staff there and healers with mountains of knowledge! Nothing in Britain would help my symptoms, but the resort……Actually, I believe now they call it a healing spa for magical people. In any case, it cured my suffering. The summer is long, Severus, you may look into it."
Severus wore a thoughtful frown as McGonagall took her leave.
He spent the rest of the morning investigating Palingan's Tempest.
By the following afternoon, Severus had decided to do something selfish for once.
As he stared down at the reservation confirmation brochure that had already arrived in the mail, he scowled as he read the many amenities offered by the magical healing spa.
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Severus declined to mention his travel plans in his letters to Harriet, certain he would find a way to keep their communications open.
However, three days before he was scheduled to check in, she arrived at Palingan's Tempest with her trunk packed and a tense smile on her face.
"Hello, I'm Harriet Jane Potter." She nodded at the receptionist in the main lobby, "I have a spot reserved for the summer."
The receptionist checked the spa's records before she glanced up at Harriet and asked, "For what healing purpose, my dear?"
"Dark Magic recovery." Harriet whispered, careful to keep her voice down, "I've asked for a full body examination from organ function to fertility. I've been in contact with some rather nasty things and want to make certain no long term health effects are….you know…..lingering."
"Of course." The receptionist nodded as she jotted down a note before she looked up and smiled, "Come along then! I'll show you to your cabin."
As Harriet followed the receptionist out of the lobby and across the island's boardwalk to the rooms that would serve as her residence for the season, she could scarcely believe the raw beauty of the healing spa's location.
The undisturbed island sat surrounded by sea, with the radiant, summer sun highlighting the endless, crystal water.
After years of war and stress, the peaceful calm seemed almost surreal.
If Harriet had known Severus would arrive at Palingan's Tempest as well in just a few short days, she may very well have shouted for joy.