Notes:
This is a story made by fan for fan. The world of Harry Potter does not belong to me. Plagiarism is a crime.
This fanfiction is available on AO3, , Spirit Fanfics and Wattpad platforms.
WARNING: This story contains descriptions of post-traumatic stress disorder attacks, if you are sensitive to this topic, I recommend you stop reading.
PS: This is my first time writing in English, I'm sorry for the possible mistakes.
PS²: Yes, I know I promised my next fanfiction would be happy, but it was stronger than I.
PS³: This fanfiction was made for the Snamione Prompts profile on Twitter.
A loud cough sounded in the distance, breaking the silence of the cold dawn. Disturbing sounds of someone struggling to breathe follow the coughing, which turns into hoarse choking. Rapid, muffled footsteps mingle with the sounds. The loud creak of a door opening echoes like a note out of tune in an orchestra of melancholy sounds. Although this noise is something that usually bothers the inhabitants of the house, at this moment, the person approaching the bed doesn't care.
The man lying on the bed is choking, pulling in air so hard through coughs that his bare chest sinks in, creating a kind of choking hole. She quickly sits down next to him on the bed and pulls his head into her lap; the action wakes him up. The coughing increases, but the hole in his chest diminishes as he swallows in gulps of air. A moan escapes his lips as he begins to cry. She wipes the sweat from his face, removing the long black hair that sticks there.
Hermione says nothing as she watches Severus Snape cry, watching his shoulders shake and him curl up into a ball next to her. She continues to wipe away his sweat, but doesn't put her hands anywhere else on his body. She notices Severus's large hand, with its long, thin fingers, touching the scar on his neck. His eyebrows knit together in pain. He's felt this pain since he woke up from his coma after the attack. Many tests were carried out on St. Mungus to see what it could be, perhaps the result of Nagini's venom, but it was proven that the pain was purely psychological.
However, with Severus lying on her lap, crying fat tears, it didn't seem to be psychological pain.
Hermione remembered the first time she saw Severus having a crisis. It all happened when, even after months of relationship, he refused to spend the night at her house, or take her to his. The witch gave him an ultimatum, because she was very upset by this situation, and had begun to imagine various negative possibilities that prevented him from wanting to be with her. Even the possibility that he was seeing another woman.
Severus, outraged by Hermione's thoughts of him, invited her to sleep together. He didn't prepare her. There was still a remnant of Professor Snape, head of the Slytherin house at Hogwarts, who appeared from time to time in their relationship. And that day, the professor showed up.
Hermione was terrified that Severus was dying, the man wasn't breathing properly and his chest was sinking so much that it felt like his internal organs were being crushed. She shivered, cried and beat her hands against his chest until she woke him up. When his black eyes met her brown ones, she cried even more and hugged him so tightly that he had to use a little magic to push her away from him, as he still couldn't breathe properly. The use of magic completely exhausted him, and he lay on the bed, tears streaming from his eyes, concentrating on his breathing.
When she found out that he had done it deliberately, Hermione obviously got angry, and they had a big fight. He apologized for his childish attitude, and Hermione understood that she had offended him, and that they had to improve their dialogue if their relationship was to work.
But Severus is not the only one who has developed crisis.
The second week they slept together, it happened. Hermione came out of the dream feeling like she was falling, her body jumping upwards. Her brown eyes rolled around in their sockets, but she couldn't see anything. Everything was black. This situation had been happening ever since they had won the war, probably because of the little moment when they thought Harry Potter was dead. At that moment, the feeling of emptiness was so big that it certainly broke Hermione's brain to the point where she thought she would be alone forever. Without her parents, without Harry, how many others would leave?
Unable to see that she wasn't really alone, that Severus Snape was sleeping next to her, Hermione got up and took a few steps, stumbling into an armchair under the man's bedroom window. That was enough to wake him up.
Severus turned on the lamp and sat on the bed, looking at Hermione's terrified face.
"Hermione?" He called out, getting to his feet and walking over to her.
She heard him, but still couldn't see him. Couldn't see him because everything was black and empty. She was alone. Completely alone. Hermione bent down and hugged her legs, starting to cry loudly, full of sobs. Severus' icy hand rested on her shoulder and squeezed lightly. It seemed that he had understood exactly what was happening there. He pulled her to him and hugged her tightly.
"Hermione, I'm here." He said in a firm voice, loud enough for her not to think that she was hallucinating.
Hermione's vision only cleared up again several minutes later, while they were still hugging and kneeling on the floor; he calmed her down, maintaining the hug and talking to her, promising that he was there. Her eyes searched for his image and, when she saw him there, she let the air out of her lungs and more tears fell. She was no longer alone.
Right now, that's what she wanted Severus to feel. That he wasn't alone, that she was there for him. That it had only been a nightmare, a nightmare from the past, but that now he was safe. Now they're all right.
Minutes passed, perhaps hours. The couple positioned themselves differently on the bed, both lay down, Severus still curled up, while Hermione held him. Only when their breathing calmed down, and the man felt safe in the arms of the woman he loved, did they fall asleep again.
Tomorrow would be another day, perhaps another dawn of lost sleep due to nightmares and memories, but a new day for their slow journey towards healing. For now, only each other's presence was enough, but they knew they needed help. But in the meantime, the pointers of the clock at the end of the corridor, stuck to the wall opposite the creaking door to the couple's bedroom, ticked away, second by second, that a new dawn would come, and for now, it would be a dawn without war; Hermione and Severus would have time to heal from the war traumas they carried.
Final notes:
Follow me on Twitter: lilithescritora.
I will be very grateful for constructive criticism and comments.
See you in the comments.
