The Legacy of the Dark Lord

The Blood Rose
By M.M.G.C

When I came to in the hospital wing, the room had become dim and the light from the tall windows flickered with the pale torchlight from below. The entire castle seemed still and quiet. It must have been well into the night.

I could not remember what had happened right away. Then every feeling came flooding back to my mind like a dam bursting after a heavy rain.

Madame Pomfrey had apparently retired for the night because there was no one in the room except besides me.

I laid there silently for a moment, not knowing what had conspired after I fainted. I thought about Severus for a moment—what had his reaction been? Did he pass out just as I had done? Probably not—a all all, he had been feeling this hatred for some time.

Just as I had finished that thought, I realized I was watching the hospital wing door open and shut. No one entered, though. Or so I had thought…

A small impression formed on the bed beside me. I inhaled the familiar scent of hot spice a second later. Smiling, I whispered into the dark room, “It’s okay, Severus. There is no one here except for you and I.”

A long hand appeared from nowhere, pulling back an invisible sheet from the air. As the invisibility cloak fell to the floor, there sat my Severus. He knelt at the side of my bed, one hand crossed behind his back and the other resting on the edge of the bed. His silent gentleman air put an appreciative smile on my lips.

When he spoke, he did so slowly, deepening his voice so that it spun words like silk to my ears. “I had to come when I knew you had finally awoken. I wanted to be the first person you saw when you came back,” he said with gentle softness, like the Dark Prince of my fantasies. I very nearly wept!

Reaching his hand out, he grasped my weak hand, tenderly squeezing it as he began to bring the other hand from around his back. His eyes narrowed to darkened slits as they ensnared mine. Suddenly I felt his other hand meet the two already embracing each other. When I glanced down, I saw the most beautiful red rose I had ever laid eyes on.

“Oh, Severus! You ’t h’t have to!” I very nearly shrieked! “It is the most divine rose I’ve ever seen! Where on Earth did you get it?”

He curled his delicious lips in an impossibly irresistible grin. “This,” he said, “is the Blood Rose. When I returned to my bedchamber this evening, I found them growing wildly throughout the room. It grows only when one takes on suffering for the other. Its presence alarmed me, so I cut one of them and searched for you. The thorns of Blood Rose will only cut the skin when I am close to finding you. And as you were injured upon Harry touching you, it grew with the love you displayed by suffering for me.”

“I had started to wonder why the thoughts I received from you were… very unstable. Once I saw the Blood Roses, I knew what had happened.” He opened his left palm that held the rose. An enormous thorn hooked into his skin at the center of the Blood Oath wound. “Now, if you would be so kind? You are the only one whom can withdraw the thorn…”

His smile did not waver as I removed the thorn. In fact, he seemed to become enamored even more so. Tenderness shone in his dark eyes, which engulfed mine. It made my stomach tighten strangely to feel that strongly about anyone.

“I didn’t know what I would do if anything would have happened to you. I am dreadfully sorry that I didn’t tell you the effects of the hatred between myself and Mr. Potter. That could have cost you more than a headache and a fresh cut. It could have cost you your mind. The strength you showed… well, I could not have done it. When he touched you, I was driven mad—jealous, contemptuous! Yet he was just being nice. He cared about what happened to you because he sees you as a friend. You received both messages and your mind tried to discern which of them were yours. That is why you finally lost consciousness. It was because I became jealous of the Potter boy and if you weren’t stronger, you would be in St. Mungo’s for life…”

He paused as he watched my face. “Michele—I have to tell you. I cannot keep this bottled inside any longer lest it haunts me all my days…” He paused, edging closer to me on the hospital bed. “I… love… you…” he expressed softly, straining under the rising passion.

My heart stammered. My eyes ached with the purity of his gaze. I did not say anything. I could not say anything. I simply pulled his chin towards mine and kissed his luscious lips, drawing in all his untethered ardor through the point where our lips met. Every sentiment—from raptur dol dolor—exhaled between us, like when lightning striking the soul.

My lips surrendered to his, each of us becoming whole by joining infinitum. None of us could deny the passions any longer. A sensual bond, born of angst and rejection, strengthened the pure soul bond between us. I felt his moist tongue meet mine, entwine, and stroke feverishly.
I saw images so profoundly sorrowful that my heart trembled. I saw the images Severus kept hidden in his distraught heart. There were images so desolate and sad that I nearly cried for him. His suffering and trauma fueled his reverence. His soul wept and his heart pained, after pining away for so long without love.

“Severus?” I said pulling away. “You should go now.”

“Yes, I know. I concur. I cannot believe I… I am sorry for all this,” Severus said, as he held my hand and kissed it. “I hope there is a day when nothing will be able to keep us apart…,” he voiced.
“Before you go, I just wanted to say… I love you too…” I closed my eyes and kissed him once more. “We will talk as soon as I can convince Madame Pomfrey to let me out. Then I will answer your questions and you will answer mine. Okay?”

“Yes. We have much to discuss. There’s a place where we can meet not far from here. I would have taken you there tonight but… Well, I need to go.”

Without another word, he slipped the invisibility cloak on. The next thing I saw was the door open and shut. My hand, still trembling, found the pendant still upon my chest. I touched it and sighed. “Be careful, Severus. Just be careful.”

As I slept holding the pendant, we dreamed back and forth with each other. He kept trying to turn away and I did not know why. In my dream, I cried. I felt rejected and afraid of our future. I wept in his arms, hoping to be cradled by his thoughts but he seemed to always distance himself from me.

I do not know if he remembered our dreaming together but I know that he seemed afraid of telling me the truth. He felt the truth would be hurtful and lead me to resent him. I could not convince him otherwise.

When the next day dawned, I heard Madame Pomfrey approaching my bed. I had been awake for some time now and wanted desperately to leave.

Then I remembered the Blood Rose—it was hidden among my bed linens but I would need to sneak it out of here somehow. I would not dare leave it or flaunt it. What would everyone say if I did? They would know that there had been someone here after hours. I would be watched and then I would not be able to see Severus any longer… even in stealth.

“I see you have finally awoken, Miss Knight. How do you feel today?” inquired Madame Pomfrey with a smile.

“I am much better. I would like to return to my classes, please.”

“What happened in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom that cut your hand?”

“I slipped when I tried getting in my chair and my hand caught the side of something sharp. I don’t remember what it was but it gave me a terrible startle. Then I fell to the floor. A few minutes later, I fainted. I think it was just shock or blood loss. What do you think?” I asked.

“Quite right, Miss Knight. My, you should be a Healer. I think that you will be fine to resume regular schedule today. Just please take care when you walk or need to balance. You lost quite a large amount of blood for the size of the wound. Ah yes! I mustn’t forget to give you these,” she said. “Accio gift,” she said with a flick of her wand. “Mr. Potter sent you these.”

I was tremendously shocked. A dozen beautiful pink roses flew to her hand. She handed them to me but I didn’t know what to say or do. Why had Harry sent me flowers? Did he just send them because I was his friend and he cared? On the other hand, was this turning out to be more than friendship? Ron and Hermione did not send anything nor did anyone else. Pink roses? Why pink?

I looked for a card on them. Tucked between the flowers, I found it. It said, “I hope you feel better soon! With Love from Harry”. Well, there it was: Severus did have a right to be jealous, or at least suspicious. Harry was a great friend but I loved Severus without a doubt.

Yet, how would I explain that to Harry? Severus hated him so much that I landed myself in the hospital wing just by him touching me. Nonetheless, I liked being friends with Harry. He brought out the best and the worst in everyone around him. I wondered if Severus knew about Harry’s flowers yet. If he had, he may have just been picking at my mind, trying to evoke emotions.

Madame Pomfrey eyed me curiously. The roses lay in my lap and I had been staring at them blankly. She put her clipboard on the table. “Matters of the heart? Was that what had been troubling you, dear? Well, it only goes to show how profoundly love can impact the body. No wonder you fainted! The body does what the mind tells it to… Do not worry--I will not be blabbing about your romantic troubles to anyone but I would caution you to be more careful in the future. Choose your feelings before they choose you.”

“Thank you, Madame Pomfrey. Can I go now?”

“Ah, yes,” she said. “You may return to your regular classes. I hope not to see you again soon!”

Picking up my cloak that had been folded neatly on the bedside table, I opened it just enough to fit the Bloose ose inside. Then I carefully laid the pink roses across my arm and sprinted toward the door. Madame Pomfrey had walked off to her office, signing forms of some kind.

“Madame Pomfrey? What is the time? I have lost track…”

“It is five-fifteen in the morning, Saturday. No classes today, Miss Knight!” she announced happily.

“I have been sleg fog for… four days? It can’t be! It just can’t be!” I said as I ran out of the hospital wing.

As I rushed through the door, I grabbed my pendant in desperation. “Severus? Severus?” I thought. “Wake up, Severus! I’m awake! Please! Wake up!”

“I am here. What is the matter? What’s happening?” Severus asked shakily.

“I… I need to speak with you alone today. We need to speak right away! Find some way of getting us out of here! We need to be undisturbed!” I shrieked into my thoughts.

“Meet me in twenty minutes at the stairs to the dungeons,” he said alarmingly.

“I am on my way from the hospital wing now. I’ll be there in seven minutes! Make sure you are there when I get there!” I said.

My pace quickened as did my heart. My blood coursed heavily through my tumultuous heart. A thousand knives seared my throbbing head. The hands that carried my roses, now trembled with anxiety.

As I rounded the corner from the Grand Staircase, I caught Severus doing the same. He looked almost in a panic. I would have bet nearly everything I owned that he knew. He knew those secret thoughts that I had whilst in the hospital wing. He knew why I needed to speak with him and he was only too eager to do just that.

“Miss Knight? I need you to follow me. We need to talk of your studies during your absence. Please follow,” said Severus, covering for the possible presence of anyone who may be watching.

“Yes Professor. I desperately need to catch up. I am sorry for my absence, Professor Snape. Thank you for meeting me to help me catch up. I appreciate it,” I said politely.

Hurrying through the dungeons, I could hardly keep up his dizzying pace. The silken black cloak billowed defiantly behind him. He was emotionally stirring, even from behind.

Severus turned into the Potions classroom, holding the door open for me. As I entered, he shut the door soundlessly behind me. Pulling out his wand, he tapped the lock and turned to me.

“We are alone,” he said while visibly trying to slow his breathing. He glanced up at the window behind his desk. He dashed over to it and whipped the burgundy curtains closed. As he walked slowly towards me, he glared down at the pink roses still strewn in my arms. His pale face flushed unflatteringly.

“I know what you are thinking but I just woke up this morning and when I went to leave, Madame Pomfrey gave me these. There’s a note with them. Here,” I explained, pushing the small card into his seizing hand. His eyes glared at me, almost accusingly.

“I don’t need to see this to know. I have known for some time what Potter thinks of you. It was written all over his memories and thou. H. He can be read like an open book. It is part of my gift,” he said, now pacing back and forth.

“I know all that has happened in that hospital wing up until you awoke this morning. I have been awake with you in your thoughts since the time I found you Monday night. That was the night you woke for a short time. I had been on your mind… You reached for me and I came,” he spoke slowly. His finger traced his lips thoughtfully.

“Do you mean that I only awoke to make sure you found me?” I asked breathlessly. I searched for his eyes. I wanted to look upon those shadowy black orbs that lit a fire in my soul.

“Yes,” he said with deliberate softness in his voice. His eyes now looked fondly into mine. Dark circles ringed his cheekbones, telling of the long nights he spent awake the last few days.

“When I left that night, you fell into… a sort of coma. You lost tremendous amounts of blood. Madame Pomfrey had done everything she could but you could not be helped. It was I that had to help. I had to reach you without being with you. I was the one that put you there. I was also the one who needed to bring you back,” he lamented.

“Oh, Severus! I don’t blame you! I could never blame you for feeling the way you do,” I said donning tears in the corners of my eyes.

“I know that Potter likes you. I opened his mind and extracted what I needed to deduce his affections. I had been right. That jealously nearly killed you. There was nothing in this world I hated more than the fact that Potter could admire you openly and I could not!” He forced himself to turn away from me. “Then when I knew Potter had tried to help you up, I could not suppress the hatred. When you try to fight a strong emotion in under the Blood Oath, you both feel the effects. You tried to fight the passion after our meeting in the hall to keep others from becoming suspicious. Thenn hen he touched you… the same! After leaving the hospital wing that night, I tried to think you back to sleep. You looked so tired…”

I understood what he was saying. My thoughts had slipped into dream without notice. Clearly, I had thought I was acting out the next day in reality, when I dreamt everything. My head tipped to the side deep in thought.

Severus had paused mid-sentence to watch me, looking as if someone had just paused every movement of his lean body.

“My hope was to let you rest once you had fallen asleep but… Mr. Potter appeared first thing in the morning to check on you. I became outraged and moody. I wanted to force him to leave. I wanted to be the only one to be next to you. I walked into the hospital wing and I saw him. He was holding your hand as you slept. The anger boiled my blood. I did make him jump, though. I have that effect on Potter.”

Sighing, he continued, “As I walked up to you, I noticed a fresh stream of blood pouring out from under your bandages and I knew. I knew that I had done it again. You could not possibly get well if I came to see you. So I called Madame Pomfrey into the room and hollered at Potter. I accused him of tearing open your hand. He simply left the room. Madame Pomfrey, however, became distraught and forbid anyone else to visit. She had worked long hours to try to revive you. Only I knew that you had been awake the night before.”

As he relived the details of my past few days, I saw them unfold vividly in my head, just as he remembered them. It was the angst in his eyes that worried me. I knew that angst, that need for something you just can’t have right away.

I threw my arms around him. I could not let him suffer alone. I could not bear the thought of being the concern in his sullen eyes. If I could only be free to be with him completely, things would be perfect and I would never have to see that hunger, that jealousy, that hatred in his heart ever again.

Silent tears fell from my eyes to wet his shoulder. I released my sadness and shared his misery for a while. Together, misery seemed bearable, almost pleasant. When felt with someone that shared those thoughts, it became a solid bond. We thought very much alike but I had not experienced quite as much misery as he had. I knew, but that did not keep me from being upset by it. I wanted to be with him through ethinthing—even his damnable past.

We stood closely, although we now looked at each other for compassion. “I left the hospital wing and locked myself in my bedchamber to think until classes. When I came out for classes, I snapped. I must have had ten students who received detention from me that day, due of course, to my nasty temper. When Potter came to class, I didn’t know how to teach them without the anger coming out again. So, I left them to do three chapters in their books. I, in turn, stared out that window most of the class. I did not want you to be hurt again. I did not want my feelings to kill you. I had to protect you from myself.”

“I don’t blame you,” I stated firmly. “I just don’t know how to approach this. Is there anything I can do to ensure this never happens again?”

“You are already doing what you can to finish school early. I could not ask you to do anything more. It is I that has to compose my thoughts and feelings.” He found my eyes, making my stomach tighten with bliss. “You’re just so damn irresistible!”

Feeling the sudden rush of blood to my face, I beamed at him indulgently. “I find you irresistible too…,” I confessed. As he looked at me, trying to remain in his thought, I witnessed him happily frown. He could not help smiling himself.

“I have always wondered what it was about you that drew me so strongly to your side,” he mused. “But now I know… there is something inside you that brings out the best in me. You can make me smile, when I have not smiled truthfully in decades.”

“I joined the Death Eaters in my search for power, when what I really needed was the love of a woman…” As he said this, he tipped his head down and took my hands lovingly in his. “I want nothing more but to retire and be at your side forever. I want to ensure you never feel the pain I have felt.”

Cautiously, he continued. “I have put in my resignation with Dumbledore. He tried to dissuade me, but I cannot stay here any longer. I need to love you. I need to be selfish with you,” he sighed heavily. “I have a home in the city, not far from Hogwarts. Since you are considered a full witch by the wizarding community at large, having completed the courses in the Americas, you are able to travel outside the grounds whenever you need to.”

His eyes faced away from mine. I could not see what he was thinking but I thought ew. ew. I thought he avoided my eyes, just in case he were subjected to rejection again.

“For you to complete your courses, you will need to keep your classes going, but I hoped… Will you stay with me?” he burst. “I will, of course, assist you with your studies and make sure you are to school on time every day. I simply cannot be putting your life in danger anymore. I love and and I want to spend the rest of my bleak existence basking in the warmth of your light.”

“I would be selfish if I said that I wanted you to stop teaching, Severus. That is not to say that I hadn’t thought of that myself because I had. Am I right in saying, then, that you are asking me if I want to spend the rest of my life with you?” I squirmed intensely in my chair.

He clasped his pallid hands in mine and genuflected at my feet. My heart convulsed, excited by his intimate stance. His eyes flooded through mine in waves of love and lust, as he bored a most incredibly serious expression. I quavered and danced between the knots in my stomach and the writhing in my head. I clenched my jaw brutally to keep it from quivering.

He began to speak slowly, thoughtfully, to me. “When I first laid eyes on you, I saw love. I saw all the things that mattered to me reflected back in your eyes. Now I am selfishly requesting that you share that reflec wit with me for all the days of our lives. I am asking for an angel to come down from Heaven… I am asking you…,” he paused to compose himself. “Miss Michele Knight, will you marry me?”

He reached a hand into the wand pocket in his cloak, pulling out an antique, ornate box. As he opened it, I gasped! There, in the middle of the black velvet lining, appeared a gorgeous ring of gold, embellished with a glittering, perfectly sized diamond with a black onyx stone set in the center. The diamond and onyx were surrounded by lavish jewels of scarlet, serpentine green, shadow blue, and opalescent white.

The air in the room seemed to tense and gasp. Delightful shivers ripped up and down my spine. My insides melted from the fire of his love. I could no more breathe than tell you what year it was. I could think of nothing but Severus.

“YES! YES! YES!” I shrieked inside.

Aloud, I said, “By the stars in Heaven, ang angel doth renounce her place among the stars, to devote the rest of her days to the Master that has chosen, ab, above others that twinkle just as brightly. Yes, Severus, I will marry you.”

Both of our eyes shed tears of love, of release, and of genuine happiness. I bent my head to his, solemnly kissing away the tears from his soft white face.

He slipped the indescribably lavish ring on my left hand. He caressed the wound now, which haen oen on the same hand. Turning my haner, er, he traced his wand down the length of it and as he did, the wound disappeared but a faint scar remained.

“The scar will always remain. It is a remnant of the Oath. I am the only one who could have healed that wound I opened. Without resolution, we would have both bled to death,” he reflected.

I did not move my eyes from him while I took his hand in mine. I felt the deep crevasse from his wound on his left hand. I took my wand out of my cloak now, and traced the tip of the wand over the gaping hole. I did not need to see what I could so wholly feel. The wound left a faint scar to match mine.

He kissed the top of my hand with deliberate slowness, never leaving my eyes.

“I want to… go … with you… now,” I managed. “When can I leave? Have you spoken with Dumbledore about this yet?”

“Of course. He was not pleased that we compromised the professional relationship between student and Professor but, he did understand. He said he does need to speak with you before you do anything, though. He said he was delighted that I had finally fallen in love and wished us the best of luck. I don’t think he was at all upset, but rather wished that it may have been put off for a while.”

I had never seen his eyes so absolutely shine as they were shining now. This was love as it was meant to be.

I embraced him tightly in my arms, wishing I never had to let him go again. He completed my soul.

“We need to see the Headmaster before the rest of the student population wakes. It will be much easier to avoid conflict if we speak directly to him first,” he said, taking me by the hand and leading me to the door. “Alohomora” he muttered, brandishing his wand.

Although we did not hold hands while we marched up to Dumbledore’s office, we did not seem bothered by it. This would be the last time we would have to deny our feelings toward each other and that made the ascent much more wonderful.

“Fizzing Whizbees!” he purred. Even as he spoke such silliness, he sounded sexy to me.

We leapt up the stone staircase and knocked at Dumbledore’s door. “Come,” said Dumbledore. As we walked in, Dumbledore smiled in a grandfatherly manner. His eyes twinkled from underneath his spectacles.

“Please sit down, both of you,” he said seriously. “Miss Knight, it is to my understanding that you wish to pursue roma int intentions with Professor Snape. Is that correct?”

“Yes, sir, it is.”

“And Severus, it is my understanding that you also wish to do so and do hereby forfeit your position at Hogwarts? Your official intention is an early retirement. Is that correct also?” interrogated Dumbledore.

“Yes, Headmaster, that is correct,” Severus replied.

“Miss Knight,” said Dumbledore, turning in my direction again. “Do you intend to use your adult witch status to officially live outside the grounds of Hogwarts?”

“Yes, sir, I do.”

“Then it is hereby granted that one Michele Knight, be permitted to live outside Hogwarts grounds while still attending classes under the Decree for the Advancement of Magical Relations Number Twenty-Four. In addition, I do hereby honorably retire Professor Severus Snape of the position Potions Master as stated by the Headmaster Albus Dumbledore on this, the 22nd of January. He is hereby entitled to all the benefits of retirement without compromise,” Dumbledore dictated.

“That said,” Dumbledore sighed. “I wish to congratulate you both on your upcoming romantic intentions. It is with great joy that I say I am glad, Severus, that you have finally found love. You wear it well. All faculty and students will of course, sorely miss you, but on behalf of the entire school, we wish you well in your journey and hope you will stop in for a visit once in a while.”

“Thank you, Headmaster,” Severus said sincerely. He smiled broadly, which made Dumbledore’s face boast a broader smile yet.

“Ah, Severus, you may call me Albus now. We need not be so formal!” He turned to me. “Then, alas—my vivacious prodigy—I wish you luck also, for Severus has never intended to fall in love so fully and you will most certainly have your hands full!” Dumbledore laughed heartily. I giggled and Severus blushed, but still kept that stunning smile.

Dumbledore cast his eyes down to my left hand. “I see you have accepted, of course. When you have time to set the date, by all means, let me know! I would not miss it for all the gold in Gringott’s Bank!”

Dumbledore held his hand out to Severus. They shook hands as old friends would. Severus had never looked so proud and neither had Dumbledore.

“I do have one last request as your Headmaster, Severus, and that would be for you to attend the banquet to be held in your honor. It would, of course, be held in the Great Hall tonight so that we all may see you on your way properly. I would be delighted if you would attend.”

“Certainly, Albus. I would not miss it,” said Severus happily.

“At that time, I would be willing to allow you to announce your engagement to the school, which will certainly be curious as to why they are losing their Potions Master. Do you both wish to make that announcement publicly?” asked Dumbledore.

Severus glanced at me, smiling, and replied, “I think we would both be delighted if you would do the honors, sir.”

Dumbledore chuckled. “Very well, then, I would be proo ano announce such a glorious event! And, Miss Knight, you are expected to sit at the Head table tonight as my honored guest. I am sure, now, that you both have other things to do, so I will not hold you here any longer.” He looked between us slyly. “Go run and play, then! Out with you both!” he teased.

We turned and left the Headmaster’s office feeling elated and fresh. As soon as we were out of earshot, I whispered, “Perhaps we should dispense with the affections until tonight? I will really love seeing the look of sheer astonishment on some of their faces! What do you say?”

“Perfect! They will never know what hit them!” Severus sneered delightfully.

End Scene Four