Dark Gods In The Blood
Chapter Thirty
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A/N: Believe it or
not, none for this chapter -- extended notes follow the epilogue.
Summary: A wandering
student comes home, a br man man pays his penance, and a gruesome murder is
both more and less than it seems. Some
paths to self-discovery have more twists and turns than others.
Rating: R, for
intermittent dark themes, violence, and language
Disclaimer: Nothing
you read here (save the plot and bits of the text itself) belongs to me.
property of JK Rowling and Warner Bros. (and someone else, probably, but not
me). All chapter headings are properly
credited to their sources.
Dark Gods in the Blood
by: Hayseed (
Chapter Thirty
‘His
last word -- to live with,’ she murmured.
‘Don’t you
loved him!’
myself together and spoke slowly.
‘The last
word he pronounced was -- your name.’
Heart of Darkness
“By all accounts,
Severus,” Albus said cheerfully, “you’ve been rather busy as of late.
Cuthrell to leave Perkins or was that coincidence?”
He rolled his eyes and
took another sip of tea. “I assure you,
it was merely coincidence. Or
Providence, depending on one’s point of view.”
“Whichever it was, it
seems to have been for the best,” he .
weekend -- they’re quite good.” He held
out a paper sack with one of his best imperturbable smiles.
“Albus,” Severus sighed,
holding up a hand in refusal. “You only
try that ridiculous little trick with the sweets with me when you’ve got
something particularly bad to say, so let’s just skip the games and have it
out.”
/spa/span>
Contriving to look wounded,
Albus tucked the sack away somewhere in the confines of his robes.
my news.”
Severus was unable to
mask his impatience. “Albus ...”
“Oh, very well,” his
uncle said, heaving a sigh of mock misery.
“I spoke with the administration at Perkins, and it seems they feel they
are ... unable to continue meeting your needs.
Especially after this last escapade.”
“You mean ...” he began
slowly. “They threw me out?”
“Right on your charming
little ear,” Albus agreed. “They were
willing either to issue you a certificate of impeccable mental health o
go
give you a stellar recommendation to the hospital of my choice.”
Slumping his shoulders,
his voice was low. “And which hospital
did you choose, then?”
Since he was looking down
at his teacup -- a sad little affair decorated with pink pansies and an
inexplicable crack down one side -- Severus missed Albus’ expression
completely. “Actually ...” he said
quietly. “I chose the other
option.” And with that, he hoarsely
whispered an incantation Severus had never heard before.
The teacup shattered as
it hit the floor, falling from Severus’ suddenly senseless hands.
joy, ran down his limbs and his skin felt as if it was on fire.
was a dizzying moment when he thought he was going to pass out.
And then it was over,
nearly before it had fully started.
Flexing his hands, Severus stared down at them in wonder.
“Catch,” Albus said,
pitching something through the air.
Blinking, Severus
automatically looked up and wrapped his fingers around the long, thin object
flying toward his face. He realized
with a shock that he was holding his wand.
Albus smiled indulgently
at the look of complete and total surprise on his nephew’s face.
managed the impossible and taken you completely off-guard.”
He held the wand gingerly
between his thumb and pointer finger, remembering the feel of smooth wood
against his fingers as if in a dream.
“Are you saying ...?”
“You mean ... I’m free?”
he whispered, staring at his wand.
“But, why now?”
“Severus, it’s been more
than three years since your last suicide attempt. More to the point, you’ve been out of Perkins for four days now
and you haven’t so much as given a bottle of Dreamless Sleep a sideways glance,
according to young Hermione.”
“Hermione?” he asked,
suspicion dawning in his eyes and a dozen conspiracies immediately springing to
mind -- old habits die inexorably hard, after all.
Albus’ smile was sly,
bordering on a mirror of Severus’ own usual smirk. “She and I spoke this morning -- you were still asleep, I
believe. But she offered to testify for
you at Perkins if need be. Fortunately,
the staff at the hospital had no intention of taking you back anyway, so it was
unnecessary. That one’s a good girl,
though -- and it appears that she managed to do in three months what we haven’t
been able to for five years.”
“Rubbish,” he
snorted. “Granger had nothing to do
with it.”
“Rubbish,” Albus
retorted, “as you say. I’m not Jake
Cuthrell, Severus -- I mean nothing of the sort that he tried to imply.
sparked your interest in something other than staring blandly out of windows
and insulting your therapist, you’d still be there, eating your oatmeal and drinking
your tea-flavored water. I had lunch at
Perkins one day,” he explained to Severus’ quirked eyebrow.
“It was nice to be ...
useful again,” he conceded reluctantly.
“And I suppose that I realized I wasn’t a useless husk of a human being
like I’d thought. It was also ...”
quiet that Albus had to lean in a bit to hear.
“It was ... helpful to work for someone other than you.”
Eyes full of sadness,
Albus’ voice was heavy. “I have done
you no kindness, Severus.”
“You took me into your
household and raised me when no one else would,” he replied mildly.
“Raised you?” he echoed
with a trace of bitterness. “No, my
staff raised you, Severus. I just
footed the bill. I wasn’t there for you
like I should have been. Can you ever
forgive the mistakes of a foolish old man, my boy?”
“My mistakes have been my
own to make, Albus,” he said. “And
while you may not have always ... stepped in to keep me from making them, that
does not make them any less my own.”
He shook his head.
claim full responsibility for your well-being, and in that I have failed
you. I will apologize every day if I
must, but I will have your forgiveness.”
“You have it, then, if
it’s so blasted important to you,” Severus said, rather mystified at Albus’
behavior. “If nothing else, to head off
the thought of an old man hovering beside me every morning, pestering me with
ludicrous, unnecessary requests.”
Albus smiled, but it was
weak. “Of course it’s important to me,”
he said.
Feeling the internal tug
as Albus carelessly poked his fingers into that old wound, Severus bit back his
frown.
But his uncle must have
caught a glimmer of it, at least.
“Severus,” he sighed. “I know
I’ve not told you often, and I’ve certainly not shown
more dear to me.”
The frown deepened.
“I do,” he said sharply,
cutting him off. “Severus, I allowed
you to spend your entire life believing that you are alone, but I will not do
it any longer. Even if you have no one
else in this world, you’ll always have one barmy old man who loves you with all
his heart.” Albus allowed a grin to
flit briefly across his face. “More
than Sirius Black and Harry Potter combined.”
Damn it, Severus swore as
he felt tale-tell prickles at the corners of his eyes.
not!
“Uncle Albus ...” he sighed.
“And then there’s that,”
he continued in a brisk tone that Severus suspected was masking his own
tears. “We’ll have no more of this
‘Albus’ nonsense. I know it’s a bit
late for it, but I’d much prefer to be your uncle. If you’d like, I can even have a set of robes embroidered.
that’s only if you’ll have the matching ones that say Albus’ nephew.
A weight fell off
Severus’ shoulders, then, as the moment passed. “You really are a crazy old goat, aren’t you?”
Eyes widening at the old family
joke, Albus chuckled -- it soon turned into a full-belly laugh -- and after a
pause, Severus joined in.
“Oh ... good old
Aberforth,” Albus said through panting breaths as their laughter wound
down. “I still invite him to Hogwarts
for Christmas every year, but he’s yet to take me up on it.”
“I believe the Muggles
have a good expression about the odds of survival of a snowball in the depths
of hell that would describe the likelihood of Aberforth Dumbledore voluntarily
darkening the door of Hogwarts while you’re still Headmaster,” Severus said
dryly, clearing his throat.
“Well, he’d probably be
very disappointed, anyway,” Albus said.
“True,” he agreed, tone
bland. “There’s no proper livestock for
miles.”
“I guess that this year,”
he began, still smiling at Severus’ jab, “I ought to proffer an invitation to you
Although, if I recall, you were never as impressed with Hogwarts
Christmases as the rest of the children,” he continued thoughtfully.
Severus lifted an eyebrow
at that.
“Well,” he amended.
to her. She has a fairly pronounced
soft spot for you, Severus. Inasmuch as
Minerva has soft spots of any sort, that is.”
The eyebrow rose further.
Coughing, Albus obviously
decided to backtrack. “Ah, well ...
yes. But it would
did not like. “And while I’m afraid
that our potions position has been taken for an indeterminate length of time,
Professor Vector has been making retirement noises, and I know you’re more than
qualified to --”
“Absolutely not,” Severus
interrupted. “Albus -- Uncle,” he
amended to Albus’ pointed look. “You
know as well as I do that not only do I hate teaching with every fiber of my
being, my students hated me teaching
with every fiber of their beings.”
“Your results were
spectacular, though,” he said, a wistful note in his voice.
rate. I must say that you were fairly
effective at killing interest in your subject as well.
during your teaching years than at any other point in its history.”
“You see,” he exclaimed
with something close to glee. “No,
Uncle Albus. I’ll go work for Cornelius
Fudge filing paper clips in some useless Ministry department before I’ll go
back to teaching.”
“Paper clips?” Albus
echoed.
He rolled his eyes and
made a huffing noise. “Figuratively.”
“Well, then,” he
conceded. “If it’s a Ministry job
you’re after, I can speak with --”
“No!” Severus said
firmly. “I’m going to find employment
on my own. If I need a recommendation,
I’ll ask you for it, but otherwise, this is something that I can do for
myself. If the great Albus Dumbledore
has to step in and find his pitiable nephew a job, I won’t ever have so much as
an ounce of credibility, in any
field. Especially combined with my track
record.”
Clearly unhappy with
this, Albus made a face but changed the subject gamely.
Looking around Ron
Weasley’s dingy flat and dimly noticing the broken teacup on the floor for the
first time, Severus thought about it for a moment. “Weasley hasn’t said anything about me being here one way or
another. Actually, he’s been gone --
Granger’s mostly the only other person around.
And now that my financial situation is ... less dire, I should probably
find a place of my own. I could go to a
hountiuntil I can arrange something.”
“Nonsense,” Albus
retorted. “If you need a place to stay,
I’ve got not only an entire castle full of spare rooms up at Hogwarts, but a
family estate as well. an>Jan>Just say the word,
my boy, and the keys are yours. What
use do I have for a country estate,
anyway? I barely spend any time there.”
“Maybe,” he said shortly,
eyes fixed on the broken teacup.
For the first time in
five years, Severus Snape lifted his wand.
Pointing it at the teacup shards, he whispered, “Reparo
familiar rush of energy down his arm.
He closed his eyes.
When he was finally able
to bring himself to open them, he saw a whole cup sitting on its side on the
floor -- even the crack he’d first noticed had been fixed.
he leaned over and picked it up, not noticing Albus’ broad smile.
-- -- -- --
“I refuse to have this
argument again,” Severus sighed.
“Which one?” Hermione
asked irritably as she rummaged around in the refrigerator.
once.”
He poked at the table,
watching it wobble precariously with a slight frown. “Either.” He poked it
again. “Both.”
“Well, then, let me
settle one of them at least,” she snapped, tossing a head of lettuce on the
counter. “Ron’s sublet his flat to me
at a ludicrously cheap rate, and it’s unbelievably stupid
for a place of your own when you can stay right here. Hell, go stayh yoh your uncle.
He told me the other day that he offered you a mansion.”
Shaking his head, Severus
began obediently slicing up the hunk of cheese she shoved into his hand.
Hermione rolled her
eyes. “Then don’t take the mansion,”
she said, muffled as her head went back into the icebox.
yourself. I expect you to pay half of
the rent, and buy most of your own groceries.
I’m mostly broke and currently unemployed, you see.
seeing me in the Auror training program.
I don’t think that’s a paying position, though.”
He chewed thoughtfully on
a sliver of cheese. “You should
As the captor of the wizarding world’s first official serial killer, I’m
certain the Ministry would be willing to put you on some sort of living stipend
while you were in training.”
Slamming the refrigerator
door, she went to the counter again, hands laden with various sandwich
articles. “You were saying something
about charity ...”
“It’s not the same,” he
protested, taking a tomato from her hand and cutting into it.
“Close enough,” she
retorted. “There’s ham and turkey.
He hummed.
plate. “And I suppose,” he said in the
most supercilious set of tones he possessed, “that staying here would be
infinitely preferable to either of Albus’ offers. I’d rather not spend my days bumping around the Dumbledore estate
with only house-elves to talk to, and I think I’d prefer Perkins to Hogwarts
most days of the week.”
“Hogwarts can’t be that
bread.
“It’ll be worse
arranging them artistically on one of the bread slices.
want to ‘hear all about it,’ and tell me that I’m a ‘good boy.’
She passed him a plate
full of sliced meat. “Well, we’ve
settled that, at least.”
His face shuttered.
Granger.” Sandwich now assembled, save
the cheese and tomato sitting on the table, Severus walked away from her
deliberately, carrying his plate. With
relish, he Summoned a carton of juice from the icebox once he’d sat down, as
well as a glass from a cupboard.
“Showoff,” she said, a
disconcerting, teasing sort of affection in her voice.
Swishing his wand in the
air -- not casting, just enjoying the feel
of the magic tingling down his arm -- Severus frowned.
Absently, she piled
together a sandwich of her own and joined him at the table.
“Nonsense,” he said,
pouring himself a glass of juice. As an
afterthought, he Summoned a second glass and poured her one as well.
“He would
her sandwich and trying to close the whole mess with minimal spillage.
She wrapped her hands around her sandwich and attempted to pick it up --
a tomato slice splattered back onto the plate and a bit of turkey flapped out
of one side. “Since I’ve been back, at
least.” Carefully, she reached out a single
finger and poked the turkey back into place.
Cradling his own
sandwich, Severus took a vicious bite out of a corner.
chewing as he spoke.
“No,” she protested.
over to Françoise’s house to see him off this afternoon, that you might come
along.”
“I can think of an
infinite number of things I’d rather do,” he said, taking another bite.
steak sauce.”
With a glare over at him,
she sipped delicately at her juice.
They finished their
luncheon in silence, alternating between scowling at their plates and scowling
at each other. When she finished,
Hermione pushed her chair back from the table with deliberate force.
can clean up the kitchen,” she said. “I’m
Sighing, Severus finished
up his own sandwich and drained his juice glass. He obediently put away the leftover sandwich ingredients
littering the counters and began moving the dishes into the sink.
As he took Hermione’s
plate off the table in preparation to wash it, he felt a telling jerk behind
his navel. Falling forward into
darkness, Severus cursed, realizing she’d tricked him.
-- -- -- --
“That was low
“I rather thought you’d
like iHermHermione said cheerfully, a good distance away.
once I was sure you’d touched it. It
took you forever to get around to
clearing the table.”
He did not turn over,
preferring to continue to address the grass he was lying in.
the perishables first.”
“Well, you ought to get
up,” she replied. “Everyone’s due outside
in a minute and you don’t want to make a poor first impression, do you?”
“I ought to just
Apparate,” he sighed.
“You should,” she
agreed. “But we both know you won’t, so
why don’t you go ahead and stand? There
are little children for you to menace.”
Rol his his eyes only
slightly, Severus picked himself up off the front lawn, turning around to look
up at a fairly stately old Victorian home, complete with wraparound front porch
and gabled upper story windows. “This
is Potter’s house?”
“Yes,” she said.
“I wouldn’t have expected
...”
She studied him
impassively. “Harry always wanted
efforts along that vein.”
Severus did not know what
to say to that -- to the sadness
suddenly shining out of Hermione’s eyes -- but he was saved from having to
respond by a suddenly opening front door.
Ron Weasley, as gangly
and redheaded as ever, stepped out onto the Potters’ front porch, a small girl
with curly blonde hair safely ensconced in his arms.
“That’s Alice Potter,”
Hermione supplied in a whisper.
“Harry’s daughter.”
He squinted at the girl, Weasley was giving him a “Nicholas,” she whispered “I remember,” he said “Be nice,” she The boy was followed by a “And there’s Harry’s The unlikely quartet made “Weasley,” Severus said Clearly curious, The woman -- Françoise “I’m sorry to say that Laughing, she reached out He tried not to shuffle “A fact for which the “Indeed,” he said with “Well ...” Wey say said into “I know,” Hermione told With clear sorrow in his The girl’s nose He patted her head one The child shuffled “Yeah,” Weasley From Hermione’s Weasley lightly pushed The boy sniffled and Rising to his feet, “Go, Ron,” she told him His responding grin was But the embrace soon Weasley stood before “Weasley,” Severus said uncomfortably, “Snape,” Weasley replied He took the proffered Hermione made a noise “Oh, Ron,” she sighed, Weasley’s hand went to “Ron,” she said again, “You’ll stay in England “You’d better go soon,” Pulling her into his arms She lifted her head, but With a parting smile, Severus rolled his eyes “Merlin’s ass He shrugged. The boy’s dark eyes were Severus was rather taken “You know Hermione?” he “I do,” he agreed “Oh,” the boy said with a “What?” Severus asked, Something sparked in -- --
seeing nothing of her father in her face.
Possibly noticing his attention, the girl caught his eye suddenly and
waved, smiling brightly. Severus took
an involuntary step backward in surprise.
curious look but ultimately chose to look down at the girl instead, saying
something that made her clap her hands and laugh in delight.
down the steps, a little boy with black hair trailed in his wake.
Severus dimly recognized.
in his ear. “Harry’s son.”
dryly. “Potter used to bore us all to tears
at Order meetings with baby pictures.”
admonished, tapping his elbow sternly.
He tactfully remained silent.
rather smallish looking young woman -- shorter than Hermione, to be sure, but
not abnormally so -- with honey blonde hair nearly matching the baby’s.
sophistication to Severus that he would not have believed possible of someone
affiliated so closely with Harry Potter.
wife, Françoise,” she concluded.
its way down the front walk, Weasley at its lead. “Hermione,” he said warmly once he was close enough, a broad
smile on his face. “And Snape?”
with a curt nod.
apparently Weasley decided to let it pass, saying nothing in reply.
Potter -- came fod.
with a smile that reminded him somehow of Albus. “So you’re the infamous
Professor Snape. I’ve heard so
large parts of it are probably true,” he said stiffly.
and touched his forearm -- Severus tried not to flinch and mostly
succeeded. “I’m glad, then,” she told
him, smile widening and becoming even more enigmatic. “You will be a very interesting person to get to know, I think,
Professor.”
his feet. “I am no longer a professor,
Mrs. Potter.”
entire wizarding population of Britain under the age of eighteen should be
grateful,” Hermione said snidely, eliciting a snigger from Weasley and a thin
smile from Severus himself.
quirked eyebrow.
the suddenly awkward silence, clearing his throat suggestively.
as a distraction, Butterfly, but I really do need to get going.”
him with a sad sigh. “And I understand,
Ron. I really do.”
eyes, Weasley disentangled the little girl from his arms and placed her
carefully on the ground, kneeling down.
“Goodbye, Alice,” he said quietly -- Severus was absolutely shocked at
the gentleness in his voice. “You be a
good girl for your mum, you hear?”
wrinkled. It was clear that she didn’t understand thraviravity of what was happening.
last time and turned to look at the boy hovering around his mother’s legs.
forward, eyes fixed firmly on his feet.
“I’ll see you later, huh, Uncle Ron?”
whispered. “I’ll see you later,
Nicholas.”
unexpected shift at his side, Severus surmiseat sat she was surprised to see
Nicholas Potter wrap his arms around Weasley’s neck and bury his face in the
crook of his neck. He made a mental
note to ask her about it later.
the boy away. “I’ll send you an owl as
soon as I get a chance, Nicholas. Oh,
and don’t forget -- you have a long story to tell Hermione, about the dragon
and everything. I think it’s okay to
now.”
nodded and Severus felt a suspicious tug in his chest but dismissed it as a
lingering effect from the healing he’d experienced a couple of days ago.
Weasley turned to Françoise Potter and Severus guessed from the look in his
eyes that she was a large part of the reason he was leaving.
strained.
with a cheer smi smile. “I’ll be
waiting for you when you come back.”
not comforting in the slightest. “No,
you won’t,” he corrected. And she
wrapped her arms around his waist, squeezing so tightly that Severus rather
thought Weasley would be having difficulty breathing.
ended and Françoise Potter, apparently unable to stand it any more, retreated
into the house with her daughter, without so much as a backward glance.
protest as she was scooped into her mother’s arms but remained mostly quiet.
Hermione and Severus with a sheepish look on his face.
wondering what to do.
in kind. As he held out his hand,
Severus was surprised to see genuine respect shining out of the boy’s
eyes. “I never thought I’d say this,
but I think I’m going to miss you.”
hand. “I seriously doubt it, Weasley.”
halfway between a laugh and a sob as they dropped their hands.
privacy to tell Weasley goodbye.
rising up on her toes to hug his neck and give his cheek a chaste kiss.
her cheek and she leaned into the touch.
“I might miss you the most, my radiant Butterfly, for all that you’ve
put me through.”
voice now definitely more sob than laugh.
and become an Auror, won’t you?” he asked quietly. “After all, there needs to be someone
seem to be a natural at it.”
she told him threateningly, “else I’m not going to be able to let you go.”
again, Weasley rested his chin on the crown of her head.
again, Hermione. And unlike
Severus could not see her face. “Oh,
get out of here, you stupid boy,” she sighed.
Weasley released her and started walking down the street -- there was a Portkey
station not a kilometer away, Severus knew.
Standing about four houses down, Weasley halted, turning and cupping his
hands around his mouth. “I love you,
you know!” he shouted at the top of his lungs.
at the display, but Hermione smiled widely.
“I love you, too, you great prat!” she called back.
she watched him until he was out of sight.
behind him groan. Turning around, he
saw Nicholas Potter standing in the grass with a look of disgust on his
face. “Oh ... sorry,” he said, noticing
Severus watching him, straightening up and making an attempt to look
remorseful, although whether for the sentiment or the expletive, he was unsure.
assessment.”
wide, a mix of curiosity and surprise.
“Who’re you, anyway? I’ve never
met you before.”
aback. “My name is Severus Snape,” he
replied stiffly, figuring the boy would recognize the name.
asked, clearly unfazed by his name.
cautiously.
brief, dismissive sort of nod. “Do you
know how to play Soulblade?”
baffled.
Nicholas’ eyes that Severus did not like and he suddenly found himself at the
mercy of this little boy, being tugged by the hand up the walk toward the
Potter house. “Come on,” he cajoled
eagerly. “I can teach you.
-- --