E Pluribus Unum
folder
Harry Potter › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
54
Views:
3,484
Reviews:
269
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Harry Potter › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
54
Views:
3,484
Reviews:
269
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Shadows and Mist
A/N - Thanks to Kate for not just being a good beta, but a good friend. Who else would call you up and spend two hours trying to cheer you up, but a truly good friend. If it wouldn\'t be any trouble, could I ask anyone reading this to spare a prayer or a thought for my cat Lucy. She was diagnosed yesterday with terminal cancer and I may have to put her to sleep today. I have been priveledged to be her human for 14 years and I am going to miss her so very much.
deblovesdragon - Not to worry, writing is like breathing to me, if I\'m not doing it I feel awful.
Droxy - Here ya go, the next chapter to answer your questions.
Len - Sorry about the cliffhanger.
Jeannette - your questions will be answered in this chapter, I hope.
VEntrue66 - The e-book site never got back to me, so I gave up on them. SR is published with HUI as well as at the Potterverse now. And yes, terrible things are happening at Hogwarts.
Ghaeth - You say the sweetest things.:)
Jc - LOL, make sure to sleep, don\'t forget to check out the side stories, I can guarantee the will add to your fun.
Chapter 20 – Shadows and Mist
Severus was staring at Madam Pince in horror. He had never heard such vitriol being spewed from the woman before. He knew that his relationship with Kathryn had been a cause of bitterness and anger in the other woman but he couldn’t understand why. He was taken aback by her sudden frenzy of loathing. They had, he thought, always got on well.
“Madam Pince.” Kathryn began, pulling herself from Severus’ embrace. “You know nothing about me; you certainly know nothing that could make you believe such things. Who has been whispering to you in the night?” Her words, so calm and collected, made him sit up straight in sudden comprehension.
Gods, what must it be like to sit in that Library, day after day, watching the world pass you by -- no husband no children, no life outside of the books. Her bitterness and self-pity must have been eating her up for years. When they came to her whispering, what defenses would she have had against them?
“Shut up, you stupid cow! You whore! You’re fucking the Head of Slytherin, what else is there to know? He’s a Death Eater!” Severus felt as though he had been slapped. Irma’s insult to him hurt far less than her words to Kathryn. Kathryn was the one pure thing in his life; the one redeeming feature in his soul was his love for her.
“He’s a rapist, a murderer, a torturer! He’s filth and you make yourseirtyirty even touching him!”
“Don’ be sayin’ that ‘bout Pr’fessor Snape and Pr’fessor Leblanc!” Hagrid jumped up and shouted at the diminutive librarian, his face filled with outrage. “They done nothin’ ta yeh and yeh have no right!”
Severus was so bloodied by Irma’s hate and warmed by Hagrid’s defense that it took him a minute to realize that Kathryn was softly glowing.
Irma shrieked and drew back from Kathryn and the rest of the staff was staring at her in mixed expressions of fear and wonderment. Her ears seemed somehow more pointed and her body more slender, she gave off a strange radiance and light curled around her. Firenze lurched to his feet in surprise, eyes wide and chest heaving as though he had run a long distance.
“You are an Elder!” He cried in obvious surprise.
“Am I dirty, Madam Pince?” She asked and her voice seemed somehow more resonant. It was an absurd question; you could not look at her without seeing how meaningless Irma’s accusations were. Irma seemed to blur then, as though part of her were splitting away from herself. He watched in fascination as she shrunk away from Kathryn, shielding her eyes from the glow.
Severus moved up beside his beloved and just stared. Several things he had observed in the past year clicked together in his mind. The medical records he had perused last September flashed before his eyes, the blood anomalies, well within normal variation, yet…The hints about her ancestress, the elves coming to Hogwarts, it all came together in his mind. The Elf in her was there just under the surface, even a hundred generations later. His only question was how? Surely, if all wizards were descended from the elves, then they should all be able to do this but Severus had never seen anything like it before.
She was intent on Irma, her focused gaze pinning the librarian. Albus was watching her with a stillness that Severus had never seen before and -- was it…guilt? Minerva and the rest of the staff looked like they were watching a particularly interesting Quidditch match, though Flitwick gazed almost wistfully at Kathryn.
Irma crumpled into her chair, suddenly no longer a vicious harridan, but a tiny sad woman with no real future before her. Kathryn faded back to being just Kathryn and Severus caught her as she crumpled. He lifted her tenderly and carried her from the room, not giving a damn about the meeting or any of the staff. No one but Minerva, Hagrid and Albus had defended him against Irma’s accusations and the pain of that would take some time to heal. He took the back way to her chambers, which were closer, and settled her onto the couch before the fire.
Kathryn was trembling with reaction and Severus wrapped himself around her, curling her tight against his body on the spacious couch. She was soon asleep, her chest rising and falling beneath his arm, but it was a long time before he found any rest.
The next day the staff was subdued. Hagrid came and sat down very pointedly next to Snape at the breakfast table and played with Ryan happily all through the meal. For a huge man with a propensity for making pets of monstrous beasts, Hagrid was extremely gentle with the baby.
Madam Pince was not at breakfast and Severus, for one, was very glad not to see her. Minerva had her lips tightly pursed and while Albus tried to look as placid as usual, even he seemed distracted. The others kept shooting surreptitious glances at Kathryn as though she would leap up on the table and grow wings at any moment.
Kathryn was extremely pale and he knew she was horribly weak after her draining display, but she looked at ease and distant; in fact, she was the only person who was perfectly serene. Severus ate with savagery, trying not to stick anyone with a knife just because they believed what they were supposed to believe.
The unspoken suspicions of the rest of the staff had always been just that – unspoken. Now that someone, whether controlled by Dark powers or not, had broken the silence, they were all unsettled and thinking about things they had been trying not to for years. A seed of fear and dissension had been planted and nothing could uproot it now.
Having been suspected of being dark all of his life, even before he had been and after he had repented, Severus found it easy to move back into sullenness and anger, except for the hand that crept into his. Kathryn’s fingers sought his beneath the table and she gave him the briefest of glances. The walls fell down again beneath her quiet assault and he gave her a wry grimace in return. Damn the woman, she simply wouldn’t let him mope. He figured bursting into hysterical laughter at the High Table in front of the whole school would be blowing his cover a bit, so he simply stabbed at his food starstared at his plate, letting his hanging hair hide his smile.
deblovesdragon - Not to worry, writing is like breathing to me, if I\'m not doing it I feel awful.
Droxy - Here ya go, the next chapter to answer your questions.
Len - Sorry about the cliffhanger.
Jeannette - your questions will be answered in this chapter, I hope.
VEntrue66 - The e-book site never got back to me, so I gave up on them. SR is published with HUI as well as at the Potterverse now. And yes, terrible things are happening at Hogwarts.
Ghaeth - You say the sweetest things.:)
Jc - LOL, make sure to sleep, don\'t forget to check out the side stories, I can guarantee the will add to your fun.
Chapter 20 – Shadows and Mist
Severus was staring at Madam Pince in horror. He had never heard such vitriol being spewed from the woman before. He knew that his relationship with Kathryn had been a cause of bitterness and anger in the other woman but he couldn’t understand why. He was taken aback by her sudden frenzy of loathing. They had, he thought, always got on well.
“Madam Pince.” Kathryn began, pulling herself from Severus’ embrace. “You know nothing about me; you certainly know nothing that could make you believe such things. Who has been whispering to you in the night?” Her words, so calm and collected, made him sit up straight in sudden comprehension.
Gods, what must it be like to sit in that Library, day after day, watching the world pass you by -- no husband no children, no life outside of the books. Her bitterness and self-pity must have been eating her up for years. When they came to her whispering, what defenses would she have had against them?
“Shut up, you stupid cow! You whore! You’re fucking the Head of Slytherin, what else is there to know? He’s a Death Eater!” Severus felt as though he had been slapped. Irma’s insult to him hurt far less than her words to Kathryn. Kathryn was the one pure thing in his life; the one redeeming feature in his soul was his love for her.
“He’s a rapist, a murderer, a torturer! He’s filth and you make yourseirtyirty even touching him!”
“Don’ be sayin’ that ‘bout Pr’fessor Snape and Pr’fessor Leblanc!” Hagrid jumped up and shouted at the diminutive librarian, his face filled with outrage. “They done nothin’ ta yeh and yeh have no right!”
Severus was so bloodied by Irma’s hate and warmed by Hagrid’s defense that it took him a minute to realize that Kathryn was softly glowing.
Irma shrieked and drew back from Kathryn and the rest of the staff was staring at her in mixed expressions of fear and wonderment. Her ears seemed somehow more pointed and her body more slender, she gave off a strange radiance and light curled around her. Firenze lurched to his feet in surprise, eyes wide and chest heaving as though he had run a long distance.
“You are an Elder!” He cried in obvious surprise.
“Am I dirty, Madam Pince?” She asked and her voice seemed somehow more resonant. It was an absurd question; you could not look at her without seeing how meaningless Irma’s accusations were. Irma seemed to blur then, as though part of her were splitting away from herself. He watched in fascination as she shrunk away from Kathryn, shielding her eyes from the glow.
Severus moved up beside his beloved and just stared. Several things he had observed in the past year clicked together in his mind. The medical records he had perused last September flashed before his eyes, the blood anomalies, well within normal variation, yet…The hints about her ancestress, the elves coming to Hogwarts, it all came together in his mind. The Elf in her was there just under the surface, even a hundred generations later. His only question was how? Surely, if all wizards were descended from the elves, then they should all be able to do this but Severus had never seen anything like it before.
She was intent on Irma, her focused gaze pinning the librarian. Albus was watching her with a stillness that Severus had never seen before and -- was it…guilt? Minerva and the rest of the staff looked like they were watching a particularly interesting Quidditch match, though Flitwick gazed almost wistfully at Kathryn.
Irma crumpled into her chair, suddenly no longer a vicious harridan, but a tiny sad woman with no real future before her. Kathryn faded back to being just Kathryn and Severus caught her as she crumpled. He lifted her tenderly and carried her from the room, not giving a damn about the meeting or any of the staff. No one but Minerva, Hagrid and Albus had defended him against Irma’s accusations and the pain of that would take some time to heal. He took the back way to her chambers, which were closer, and settled her onto the couch before the fire.
Kathryn was trembling with reaction and Severus wrapped himself around her, curling her tight against his body on the spacious couch. She was soon asleep, her chest rising and falling beneath his arm, but it was a long time before he found any rest.
The next day the staff was subdued. Hagrid came and sat down very pointedly next to Snape at the breakfast table and played with Ryan happily all through the meal. For a huge man with a propensity for making pets of monstrous beasts, Hagrid was extremely gentle with the baby.
Madam Pince was not at breakfast and Severus, for one, was very glad not to see her. Minerva had her lips tightly pursed and while Albus tried to look as placid as usual, even he seemed distracted. The others kept shooting surreptitious glances at Kathryn as though she would leap up on the table and grow wings at any moment.
Kathryn was extremely pale and he knew she was horribly weak after her draining display, but she looked at ease and distant; in fact, she was the only person who was perfectly serene. Severus ate with savagery, trying not to stick anyone with a knife just because they believed what they were supposed to believe.
The unspoken suspicions of the rest of the staff had always been just that – unspoken. Now that someone, whether controlled by Dark powers or not, had broken the silence, they were all unsettled and thinking about things they had been trying not to for years. A seed of fear and dissension had been planted and nothing could uproot it now.
Having been suspected of being dark all of his life, even before he had been and after he had repented, Severus found it easy to move back into sullenness and anger, except for the hand that crept into his. Kathryn’s fingers sought his beneath the table and she gave him the briefest of glances. The walls fell down again beneath her quiet assault and he gave her a wry grimace in return. Damn the woman, she simply wouldn’t let him mope. He figured bursting into hysterical laughter at the High Table in front of the whole school would be blowing his cover a bit, so he simply stabbed at his food starstared at his plate, letting his hanging hair hide his smile.