Minerva’s lips were pressed into a thin line, “I thought it would be best if you handled this. It involves your Slytherins, and… you know how things are.” She handed him a folded parchment, “there was an attack earlier tonight.
Severus opened the parchment, his eyes instantly flickering to the St. Mungo’s emblem in the upper corner. He scanned the contents once, twice, “I trust I can take them off of school property. It seems… appropriate.”
“Of course Severus, normally I would not allow it, but I feel that in this case it may be arranged.”
“Then we shall go immediately. I trust you will look in on my House should I not be back soon.”
“Of course, tell them… express the condolences of the entire staff.”
Severus nodded curtly and swept past Minerva and down the hallway further into the dungeons. He paused for a moment in front of the plain stone wall that was the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room. He had not made one of these trips for awhile now. He despised them.
He crossed the Common Room and entered the Head Boy’s room without knocking, “get up Mr. McKean, now.”
“Hrmphphph…”
“Up, now, or I’ll fix it so that you don’t sit for a week.”
“I didn’t do it Professor, I swear,” Mark mumbled as he tried to untangle himself from his sheets.
“We will discuss what you didn’t do at another time Mr. McKean. Get dressed and meet me in the Common Room. You have five minutes.”
Mark groaned, but obediently rolled out of bed as Snape left, all but slamming the door shut behind him. He wasn’t sure what to think. He honestly couldn’t remember doing anything that Snape could have possibly found out about. Nevertheless, he pulled his pants on and left the room while still in the process of buttoning up his shirt, shaking his hair back out of his eyes.
Eyes that rounded as he reached the Common Room to see Snape waiting for him with Amelia Upland, a little second year with straight blond hair and big green eyes, who was stifling a yawn as she huddled beneath a too large sweater. This just wasn’t about him, some rule he’d broken, this was bigger, this was worse. His mouth went dry as he noticed the hard set of Snape’s jaw. Something had happened tonight, something that affected both him and Amelia. He searched for a connection between the two of them other than their status as Housemates. It hit him like a bag full of bricks. Their parents were Death Eaters.
“Come along Mr. McKean, Miss Upland, my office, now.” Snape’s words were clipped with no emotion behind them.
Mark instinctively reached down for Amelia’s hand as they trailed behind their Housemaster. He could see in her eyes that she knew something was wrong. Although his Slytherin sentimentalities would not allow him to show how scared he truly was he was terrified of what would be said once they reached Snape’s office.
Severus solemnly presented his two students with a jar of floo powder, “St. Mungo’s,” he said, his voice softening slightly now that they were in the sanctuary that his office provided.
Amelia’s hand was visibly shaking as she took a pinch of the powder, but she managed to speak clearly as she spoke their destination. Mark quickly followed her, a feeling of numbness settling in. He was grateful for Snape’s hard, impersonal hand on his shoulder, steering him forward as they made their way to the fourth floor, spell damage.
Hermione Granger-Weasley herself met them at the top of the stairs. Severus found some small measure of comfort in knowing that they still had an ally as head of the hospital. It allowed them at least some guarantee of security. She had a terse greeting for Snape, but quickly ushered them into the ward. She didn’t stay long. She thought it best to leave the Slytherins to themselves. No matter what she thought of their House, they were loyal to each other.
A young medi-witch with a round face stepped forward, “Mark McKean?” Her face was sympathetic as she ushered the young man forward, “come with me please.”
“My parents…”
The woman took his arm and led him down the ward, “I’m very sorry, your parents were brought it a couple of hours ago.” She led him behind a partition that contained two beds.
Mark looked at the two covered figures, “can I see them?” He didn’t wait for a response, but pulled back the sheets to look at his parents’ faces.
“Your mother died almost immediately after they were brought in, your father a few minutes after.”
“How did you get stuck with this job?”
The woman looked up at him in confusion for a moment, “oh… luck of the draw, I’ve never had to tell anyone…” she trailed off.
Mark nodded currently and turned away from his parents’ bodies, not sure what he felt. He didn’t know what to feel. He knew that he really should feel some sort of remorse, and he did. At least on some level. They were his parents after all, they had given him life, but that was about it. Snape had been much more of father to him than his own had.
“Mr. McKean…” Severus met him as he came back around the curtains, “let me know if there is anything you need help with, putting an estate in order is no easy task.”
Mark nodded stoically, “where is Amelia?”
Severus inclined his head further down the ward, “both of her parents as well,” he provided as gently as he could.
Mark nodded once before turning to walk down the length of the ward. He knelt briefly on the floor in front of the bench Amelia was sitting on, crying pitifully into her hands. He spoke softly to her, words that Severus couldn’t hear from where he stood, before sitting on the bench beside her and holding his younger Housemate tightly while she cried on his shoulder.
As he watched his two students Severus couldn’t help but think that he had never been prouder of the Head Boy.
~~~~~~~~~~~
“What is going through that lovely head of yours?” Sirius asked as he picked up Morgan’s hand and threaded it through his own arm. “And I can’t tell it how much it pleases me to escort you from breakfast to your rooms without the overgrown bat breathing down my neck, or ready to curse me into oblivion.”
“The overgrown bat didn’t come back last night.”
“Well… now I feel like a complete fool… would I be out of line to ask what happened to cause that?”
“Oh, stop that. We just had a little… disagreement… but then…” she sighed, “Minerva is going to announce it at our meeting later this morning, “Several members of the Order broke up a Death Eater meeting last night…”
“That’s good?” Sirius knew it should be, but something in Morgan’s tone told him that it wasn’t.
“The parents of two Slytherins and a Hufflepuff,” Morgan said softly, “Severus spent the night at St. Mungo’s with his two Slytherins last night. It’s already starting, Sirius… I don’t know how Severus can stand to do this… how he can stand to be the one to tell his students that their parents have died.”
“Are you alright, Morgan? We both know that Severus, stone hearted git that he is, can handle this. But can you?”
“Yes, I’ll be fine… or at the very least, I’ll be able to handle it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want me to stay with you for awhile?”
Morgan smiled softly and squeezed the arm she was holding, “thank you, but no. Olivia is more than enough to keep me occupied.”
Sirius didn’t look completely satisfied as he released Morgan’s hand at the door to her and Severus’ chambers, “just let me know if there’s anything you need. I know that Severus isn’t always…”
“He tries, and I can’t ask for any more than that.”
“Mum!!! Come look at what I made!” Olivia cried in delight the minute the door opened.
“See,” Morgan affected a very Snape-like smirk, “I have plenty to keep me busy. There’s never a dull moment with this one around.” She turned her attention down to the glitter covered seven year old and the equally glittered and gluey picture she had made. “Is this Tristan?” It appeared that the centerpiece of the picture was a blue bunny.
Olivia nodded happily.
“I’ll put it up in my office this afternoon, that way I’ll be able to see it everyday,” Morgan bent to kiss her daughter, wondering if she would ever be able to wash all that glitter out of Olivia’s hair. It didn’t look promising.
“I’ll leave you two ladies alone, I’ve got a class to teach,” Sirius showed himself out with a smile for Olivia and a look of compassion for Morgan.
“Daddy won’t hang up the pictures I make him,” Olivia informed her mother seriously as the door closed behind Sirius, “but he keeps all of them, he showed me.” She thought for a moment, “Do you think if I colored a picture using just black he’d hang it up?”
“I don’t think so sweetie,” Morgan answered honestly, “but I’m sure he would love it just the same. Do you think you can play quietly for awhile while I grade some papers?”
“Yes. Do I get to go with Mr. Malfoy today?”
Morgan pressed her lips together, “we’ll see,” she said evasively. He’s going to have to go through me if he thinks he’s getting anywhere near my child. She couldn’t help but smile as she settled into an overstuffed chair with her grade book and a stack of essays, Olivia happily coloring on the floor at her feet and a fire crackling merrily in the hearth, it was so homey and comfortable. Now if only Severus… she sighed. It wasn’t fair to wish for him to be there just to complete the ideal family scene when his students needed him more.
She ended up spending the next hour doodling in the margins of her grade book making very little headway with the 4th year essays that were sitting by her side.
“You used to do that to your Potions’ notes.”
Morgan jumped nearly a full foot out of her seat spilling papers all over the floor in the process.
“I thought you heard me come in,” Severus said sincerely as he dropped into the chair across from his wife. He felt as though he’d just made it through one of the longest nights of his life. It reminded him of the days of the last war and the nights that seemed to last indefinitely.
“Severus…” Morgan wasn’t sure how much to say in front of Olivia, “can I get you anything?” She still had a little while before her first class and was determined that her husband was alright before she left.
Severus was tempted to ask for some time alone, but figured he should try to get in a fit state to teach his afternoon classes. Thankfully Minerva had already stepped in to take his morning classes. “Some coffee would be greatly appreciated.”
“I’ll go get it,” Morgan scooped the fallen papers into a messy stack, “anything else?”
Severus closed his eyes and waved his hand in a dismissive gesture as he propped his feet up on the ottoman. It wasn’t long before he sensed a presence at his side. He cautiously opened one eye to see what Olivia wanted. “You are covered in glitter child,” he said in a warning tone as she stepped closer to him. He felt as though his heart was being squeezed by an iron fist as Olivia took a step backwards in response to his harsh observation. He had just left two children who would never see their parents again and he was concerned over a few meaningless sparkles. He opened both eyes and gestured Olivia forward again.
“What about the glitter?” Olivia asked hesitantly.
Severus sighed, “I don’t suppose it will kill me,” he said not unkindly, which Olivia took as permission to climb up into his lap. Without a second thought he wrapped his arms around his little girl, his mind on his students. Not just his Slytherins who had suffered the loss of their parents, but also the ones who could yet lose their families.
Olivia could sense something wasn’t right and she cuddled even closer to her father. “If I color a very special picture for you will you hang it up in your office like Mum does with the pictures I color for her?”
“No.”
“What if I make it all black? Or green and silver?”
“No.”
Olivia sighed, but didn’t press the issue. “I can hear your heart,” she commented as she pressed her ear to Severus’ chest.
“Don’t go spreading that around. I have most of the Gryffindors thoroughly convinced that I do not have a heart. I would hate for you to ruin my reputation.”
They were still in the chair, Olivia held tightly in Severus’ arms, when Morgan returned with coffee her husband had requested. She realized that there were some hurts she couldn’t heal for her husband. And sometimes their little girl was better at cheering him up than she was.
~~~~~~~~~~~
