They sat in a row on the floor outside the hospital wing leaning against the cold stone wall. Kamen held Olivia in his lap, who was clutching Tristan as though her life depended on it. The girls clung to each other. They didn’t speak, they didn’t cry. They simply sat in silence and watched the door in front of them.
They kept watch for hours. Others came and went. The Headmistress, Eric, Professors Longbottom and Potter. They tried to speak to the Snape children, but received no response other than Snape-inherited glares clearly indicating that they clearly wanted to be left alone. And no one was allowed into the infirmary. Severus had warded the doors so strongly that not even Minerva had any idea as to how to get in.
As the night wore on the faculty slipped away, knowing that there was nothing they could do right now. But at least one ghost remained in the hallway at all times in case there was any change to report.
“We should be allowed to say our goodbyes too,” Serena spat as she blinked back the tears she refused to let fall.
“We should,” Viviane agreed, “but Dad doesn’t always see things like the rest of us do. And I for one am not going to try and influence him now. I don’t want to be hexed on top of everything else.”
Olivia yawned as she clutched the front of Kamen’s shirt, “I don’t want Mum to die.”
“I know,” Kamen tucked her head under his chin, “but some things can’t be helped.”
“She loves us, and knows that we love her. We’re lucky that we have had that much,” Viviane said, trying to be strong. As empty as the words were to her ears she had to try something.
“Get some rest,” Kamen ordered, shouldering responsibility. Someone will wake us when there is any news to be had. He doubted that he would rest though, that any of them would. As exhausting as their grief was, they were determined to see the night through.
Nevertheless, one by one they all drifted off to sleep. But they were not alone. Hidden in the shadows where he leaned heavily on his cane, Eric watched over them all night, wishing he could do something more.
Dierna, light sleeper that she was, was the first to rouse in the morning. Her back was screaming at her from the position in which she had slept leaning against the wall next to Serena. She gently nudged her twin, who woke up Viviane, who elbowed Kamen and then had to instantly hush him when Olivia stirred in his arms.
The Snape children watched quietly as the infirmary door opened and Poppy supported their sobbing Headmistress out into the hallway. They clung to each other, straining to overhear what Poppy was telling Professor McGonagall.
“Children…”
Their heads snapped around as one to look up at their father. Severus Snape looked as though he had aged at least ten years overnight. His face was paler and more tired than they had ever seen it.
“Children…” he repeated, making the word into an endearment, a pattern of speech that he was very unaccustomed to. “Your mother… is resting at the moment, but would very much like to see you the next time she wakes up.”
“Can we go in now?” Viviane was the first one to recover enough to speak.
Severus nodded slowly, “as long as you are quiet,” and turned toward the dungeons, not waiting to see his children’s reunion with their mother.
Dierna was the only one that held back as her siblings made a rush for the doors to the infirmary. She took a few steps towards her father’s retreating figure.
“Leave him be, he needs to rest.”
She looked up at Eric, who came forward out of the shadows. “What happened? Will she be alright now? Will…”
He held up a hand to stop the onslaught of questions. “I managed to get a few words of sense out of Poppy before she turned completely incoherent. Your mother has awoken and the worst is over. She can now be given nearly any restorative we can get a hold of.”
Dierna nodded slowly, trying to process the change. “How?”
Eric’s eyes slid from the girl in front of him, to the infirmary, to the hallway that led towards the dungeon. “Not even I can answer that question completely.”
“But there has to be some explanation, some potion or spell or…”
“Child, sometimes things may simply fall under the category of miracle.”
Dierna still looked skeptical, but nodded. And, after one final glance in the direction of the dungeons, joined her siblings in the infirmary.
“Of course,” Eric muttered to himself once he was alone, “miracle just doesn’t quite sum up the actions of a man who battled the forces of heaven and hell for the life of the woman he loves and conquered. Powerful magic happened in that infirmary last night, probably something developed by Voldemort himself in his quest for immortality…”
~~~~~~~~~~
“Check.”
Harry cursed under his breath as he tried look for a move that would get him out of his current predicament.
He and Draco had found a quiet spot in the Great Hall and a chess board to keep themselves busy while they waited for news from the infirmary as to Morgan’s fate. When it came they decided to finish their game before seeking their beds.
“You know,” Harry said as he toyed with his knight, “rumor has it a teaching position will opening up next fall.”
“What are you getting at Potter?”
“There aren’t that many people around from our generation that don’t faun all over me.”
“So… you like it when I put you in your place? Does your wife tie you up too?”
Harry snorted, and sought the appropriate biting comeback. He absently rubbed his scar while he searched for that perfect scathing remark, it seemed to ache all the time these days.
“Any thoughts on how you’re going to get rid of that horcrux plastered to your forehead?”
“Nope.”
“You do realize that we have to destroy it before you can kill Voldemort?”
“I’m not daft Malfoy! However, at this point, my best plan is to send an avada kedavra at him the split second after he sends one at me. That way, I die right before my curse hits him.”
“That’ll only work if his hits your scar directly, otherwise it might not completely destroy the horcrux.”
“Shit.”
“You're pretty much fucked Potter, I'd like to see you use fame and glory to get out of this one.”
“Shut up, Malfoy.”
~~~~~~~~~~~
“Thank you.” Dierna barely registered the cup of tea that Misty pushed at her the next morning. One day, one full day of knowing that her mother would live. It hadn’t quite sunk in yet, she was so used to telling herself that her mum was dying that the switch in thinking was taking some getting used to.
“Should I be leaving the pot ands another cup?” Misty looked at the closed door of the master bedroom.
Dierna’s eyes followed the house elf’s gaze, “yes, thank you, Misty.” Her father hadn’t appeared at all yesterday after delivering the news to her and her siblings. She didn’t doubt that he had resumed his vigil in the infirmary during the night. She was now determined to remain in one place until she had a chance to talk to him.
“Are you needing anything else Miss Dierna?”
“No… nothing right now.”
Misty nodded and backed her way into a corner where she wouldn’t attract attention to herself but could still keep watch.
“Why are you down here?”
Dierna looked up at her father and shrugged, “Misty left enough tea for both of us.”
“Well?” Severus took his time pouring the tea and taking the chair opposite his daughter.
“I don’t know, I just thought that things would instantly be better. Mum looks like…”
“Like she has been in a coma for more than three months.”
Dierna nodded. “Is it too much to want a semi-normal existence? One without war, and evil overlords, and…” her breathing hitched as her voice rose shrilly.
“Have you come up with a final topic for your research project?”
“What?”
“Have you come up with a final topic for your research project?” Severus repeated.
Dierna finally recognized the question for what it was: an attempt at normality. A question about school work when everything else seemed to be falling apart and their lives were chaos. She took a deep breath, “will you really fail me if I don’t come up with something soon?”
Severus snorted, “and when have you known me to ever pamper my students? If you do not start producing results soon I most certainly will fail you!”
Dierna smiled down into her mug of tea, “thank you,” she whispered. They spent the rest of the morning debating the most recent findings on the role that garlic played in a series of rediscovered ancient poisons.
~~~~~~~~~~
Morgan was moved back to her own bed several weeks latter. Despite all of Poppy and her husband’s best efforts she still had a long road of recovery ahead of her. Her skin was still papery and had a slight yellowish cast to it. Dark circles seemed to be permanently etched around her eyes. She was currently bedridden. She couldn’t even make it to the bathroom on her own. She was weak.
Poppy had asked her what Severus had done to save her that night several weeks ago. But, she didn’t know the answer. She had managed to ask Severus one night, and he had promptly changed the subject.
She knew that she had been attacked. She knew that she had been in a coma-like state for more than a quarter of a year. And she had miraculously been saved from death. But it all seemed fairly anti-climatic. Eric would come and visit her and ramble on about fate. She didn’t do much beyond listen. She did that with her other visitors as well. Her voice wasn’t much after not be used for so long, she was self-conscious about it.
“Hi Mum,” Olivia peeked her head into the bedroom.
Morgan smiled from the pile of pillows that propped her up.
“Dad said that I get to watch you for awhile. He said I’m supposed to sit in here quietly and make sure you don’t do anything that you’re not supposed to.” She crawled up onto the foot of the bed dragging Tristan with her. “Look at what Kamen brought me,” she pulled out another stuffed rabbit, this one a bit smaller and a soft grey color with a pick and green ribbon tied around its neck. “Kamen said her name is Isolde, but I don’t know why he named her that.”
“It’s a love story sweetie, the man and the woman are named Tristan and Isolde.”
Olivia beamed at her mother. It was the most she had heard her say at one time since she woke up. “Kamen knows lots of things,” she confirmed as she set the rabbits next to each other. “He’s going to know even more once he finishes his training and is a healer. Dad keeps saying that Kamen is degrading himself by becoming a nurse, but Kamen says that a healer is not the same thing as a nurse and Dad just thinks that anything below a full medi-wizard isn’t ambitious enough. But I think that Dad is actually really happy about the whole thing.”
Morgan let her eyes slide shut as she listened to her daughter chatter on. Olivia really was the best company right now. She innocently passed on everything she learned in the hallways of the school and didn’t expect much in the way of a response.
“Are you sleeping?”
“No,” Morgan managed to open her eyes.
“Do you want me to be quieter? Because Dad says that I have to start learning when to be quiet, because I talk too much.”
“I don’t mind,” Morgan closed her eyes again. She would cry if she had the energy or the strength, but she didn’t. As she saw how far she had to go she knew that death would have been merciful. But her husband had worked a miracle to save her. He had given her the ultimate gift, the gift of life. She didn’t dare throw that gift back in his face. She would survive for him. Because she knew that he had done his best to survive without her, and had sacrificed part of himself to get her back.
~~~~~~~~~
Severus checked his watch again. He knew that Morgan would be fine on her own for a little bit longer. And she wasn’t really alone, he had left Olivia with her, and Misty was always hovering nearby. Still…
He re-pocketed his watch and made his way between the rows of work tables. “If I catch any of you wasting ingredients your respective House will have no chance of winning the House Cup!! Mr. McKean, watch the size of that flame!”
Serena muttered an obscenity under her breath, “I like that he watches out for the Slytherins but doesn’t hand out any advice to the rest of us.”
“You’re doing fine, so don’t complain,” Dierna replied, keeping her voice low and one eye on her potion while she kept the other on her father to make sure he didn’t sneak up on them.
“Not like you can say much about it, you’re the one who breezes through this class with no mistakes and perfect grades.”
“My grades aren’t perfect in here.”
“Stop being so humble.”
Dierna swore a bit more loudly than she intended as she noticed the purple green color her potion was turning. It should have gone from red to teal. This wasn’t right…
“What did you do?” Serena’s eyes were wide. Her own potion was not quite teal, but was at least in the blue-green family.
“I’m not sure.” Dierna rubbed at her eyes as she tried to think. She tried to run through a mental list of everything she had added. At least none of it would be volatile. She hoped. She cursed again when she realized there was no hope at salvage. Whatever she had done was highly combustible and not looking very stable. She would have to get rid of it.
“Evanesco.”
She glanced up at her father.
“A rather disappointing performance, and a zero for the day.”
“Yes sir.” She didn’t bother to argue with him. She knew she deserved it, she just couldn’t figure out how it had happened.
“Remain after class.”
She nodded, it was an order she had been expecting. She packed up her belongings slowly while the rest of the students bottled the contents of their cauldrons and filed out the door.
“Well?”
She shrugged, “I don’t know. I have no excuses and no explanation.”
“One does not easily go from top student to earning zeros overnight.”
Dierna managed a small smile, “I knew you’d fail me eventually.”
“Adelaide…”
She waved him off, “I’m fine, nothing a full night of sleep wouldn’t fix.”
Severus let it go at that, although he had a feeling he was supposed to push for some deeper reason. Morgan had commented on Dierna’s appearance recently. How tired she looked, that she had dropped weight again. Because the changes had been gradual and he had been less that fully observant he hadn’t noticed. “Potter had better hurry up and dispatch of Voldemort, otherwise I will kill both of them myself.”
~~~~~~~~~~
