Tear Drops in Amber

TITLE: Tears in Amber
AUTHOR: Ravenkiss
STATUS/PART: 1/1
EMAIL: Ravenkiss2000@yahoo.com
RATING: R
PAIRING: SS/AD
SPOILERS: First four books
WARNINGS: AU, Slash
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters belong to me, I am just borrowing them. No money changed hands.
SUMMARY: Someone does not want Severus and Albus together.
BETA: The Goblet
NOTES: This story was written for the Albus Dumbledore/Severus Snape
Buggering Bee 2, part of the Snapledore Carnal Carnival.

Challenge - Snape and Dumbledore are happy together. Someone tries to break them up.
Does this person want Snape for himself - or Dumbledore?[Lydia Lovestruck]

---

He cannot see my tears.

My lover will not open his eyes.

My lover, even now it is odd to say that of him. Who would ever have believed that
Severus Snape was my lover?

Would anyone have ever thought that I would find my soul mate in a man easily young
enough to be my great-great grandson?

It seems only yesterday that my lover was just a child. One so angry and filled with pain,
always sure that everyone was against him. Admittedly, he had a point about that where
certain Gryffindors were involved.

I loved him even then, the frowning child with the haunting eyes. I had begun to wonder
if perhaps that is why I had been damned to lose him.

I did not deserve his love, for it was my fault that he had almost been lost to the darkness.

It was my shame for that love which made me ignore his sweet flirtations.

That was the reason that I allowed my Gryffindors to play their pranks unfettered. I had
to prove to myself, and perhaps anyone else who might who might be watching that I did
not love this beautiful child.

I pushed him away and into the darkness because of my own fear.

___

So full of pain and guilt, the black eyed child returned to me with an infant in his arms:
the son of my dear friends the Longbottoms. That night in my study I listened to Severus\'
confession that he had been branded by the Dark Lord. How he had been forced to watch
as the Longbottoms were tortured. That he had then been ordered to go upstairs and kill
their son.

But he had hidden the child, telling his confederates that the babe was not there: that the
boy must have been in the care of some relative, he said. Then he brought young Neville
to me.

Poppy had taken the sleeping babe while I listened to Severus tell me of the Hell that was
his life. I listened attentively, neither judging nor condemning, I believe he expected me
to. When he could speak no more, I knelt beside his chair and with my white
handkerchief dried his tears. And then I did something I never believed that I would have
the courage to do.

I put my arms around him, held him against me as he cried, and even with my heart
clenched with the fear of rejection, I kissed him.

For a moment, I took his stunned silence as the expected and, perhaps, deserved rejection.
Until he whispered, “Please,” his sensual voice hoarse, raw with emotion. “No pity.”

“No pity,” I repeated, touching my lips to his, feeling him open to me.

We made love three times that night. I can still see him pale and wanton when I close my
eyes, still feel him on my skin.

Just two short months ago he was lying in my arms. A little melancholy at times, but his
love was so pure, so deep. And all of it belonged to me.

I know his faults, perhaps better than most. He could be a bit of a drama queen
sometimes; his anger often clouded his better judgment; and he could hold a grudge so
tight that it would scream.

On the other side of the coin, in my eyes, my Severus was lovely. Not in the
conventional sense of course, for his nose was a bit too big and his hair tended to be
greasy if he did not take care of it. Such as whenever students were present...

The individual features were not really pretty, and yet together they were very special.
There had always been something very sensual about him.

All of his movements were so fluid. He could put a cat to shame with his grace.

But I think that his most exquisite feature had to be his eyes. I could be lost in them for
hours; those two deep black pools that were windows to his soul. To look into the eyes
of Severus Snape was to truly gaze into eternity.

I wish that I could see them now.

He seems so calm, eyes closed as if in sleep.

At least it had been quick.

---

I recall that I bumped into Minerva on the way to Severus’ room. It was Friday night
and we had the weekend to spend together. She, as always, gave me a disapproving look.
She knew about us, of our love. Since the death of Voldemort, we no longer attempted to
hide our feelings for one another.

I thought nothing of the look she gave me, for I was well aware that my dear old friend
had never forgiven my Severus for the sin of being sorted into Slytherin.

When I reached his door it was standing open. That in itself told me that something was
wrong. My lover had always been paranoid about his privacy. The wards were attuned
to me it is true, but I should have been able to feel them react.

They had been removed.

“Severus?” I looked around his darkened rooms. Our tea was laid out, the pot warm,
waiting for my arrival. His teaching robes had been tossed casually over the back of an
overstuffed easy chair. Slippers sat near the fire. A bottle of butterscotch liqueur waited
on the coffee table in front of the couch.

And I found a vial of my favorite lemon flavored oil waiting on the nightstand.

He had been getting ready for me.

The first thing that I did when it became clear that something was wrong, was to take a
map from my pocket. One that no one else, including Severus, knew existed.

Harry Potter would know what it was. A much older version of what he would call, ‘The
Marauder’s Map’. Fortunately for me, it had been improved in the last few years to
include the Chamber of Secrets. For that is where the dot with the name, Severus Snape
was.

The dot did not move.

I ran as if an enraged dragon was at my heels. Several young Slytherins were quite
shocked to see their old Headmaster moving so quickly. I knocked poor Argus Filch on
his arse as I ran into Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom.

The door to the Chamber opened at my command, for it now, like the rest of Hogwarts,
responded to the will of the Headmaster. A spiral staircase had been added to allow
faculty and scholars access to Salazar Slytherin’s secret room.

Torches burst into life as I entered the main hall and came face to face with the gigantic
image of Slytherin. The light confirming that my sweet Severus was nowhere to be seen.
Taking the map out again, I scanned the parchment. Severus was not in the main
chamber, but what must have been a small anteroom. One that it would seem we had not
found.

After ten spells with not a single movement from the hidden door, I finally lost my
temper and melted the stone. As the last of the molten liquid flowed out over the floor,
light flooded the small chamber.

“Severus?” I gasped at the sight that greeted me. “No…”

At first glance one would think that he was standing behind the dark honey colored slab.
But a second, longer look confirmed the worst.

My hand touched the smooth surface, caressing it gently as I wished to do to him.

He stood with eyes closed, head slightly bowed, as if asleep on his feet. He wore a plain
shirt, probably white, which was unbuttoned to the waist, showing off his chest. His
trousers were dark, almost certainly black, and his feet were bare.

A few strands of hair fell across his forehead. I wanted to brush them from his eyes, but
that was not possible.

My beloved was encased in a tomb of amber.

---

The Aurors thoroughly examined Severus’ rooms and the slab in which he had been
encased. They found nothing. No evidence of a break-in, or violence. Severus had
lowered the wards himself, making them believe that he knew, and did not fear the killer.

In fact, the only evidence they had that something had happened was the fact that my
lover’s still form was encased in the slab.

“Like some giant insect,” one man smirked, not realizing that I was in the chamber.

In their eyes, this lack of evidence pointed to one of the few Death Eaters who had
escaped after the fall of their insane lord. However, the remaining Death Eaters were a
pitiful bunch, with no leader, no resources to speak of, and a healthy sense of self-
preservation.

After what I had done to the Dementors and a number of their comrades when they had
injured Severus in the last battle; it seemed unlikely that any of them would dare come
near Hogwarts for all the money in Gringotts.

But if not the Death Eater’s then who had done this horrible thing, and why?

After the initial flurry of activity and a few token men sent to guard Hogwarts everyone
went on with their lives. The trail was cold before the Aurors had even begun, and no one
seemed overly concerned about it.

The consensus was that Severus had been murdered by a person or persons unknown
possibly in retribution for his betrayal of Voldemort.

If they found out anything more they would, of course contact me immediately.

Once their minds had been put at ease that the killer was no longer on the grounds, the
Aurors made it known to me that they wished to take the amber slab back to the Ministry
for study. The fact that my lover was inside of the thing was of only incidental concern
to them.

I refused.

The first few days, my obsession was tolerated. After all, I was grieving for my lost love.
Some might not have approved of our being together, but they would not chastise me for
it.

But after a week, the gentle hints began. “There is nothing that you can do for him
Albus.” Pomfrey had said sadly. “Let them take him and put him to rest.”

“I cannot,” was my inadequate answer. “My heart cannot bare the thought of placing him
in the ground.”

Every evening I sat in my old armchair, which had been moved down to the chamber. I
wanted to be able to see him, to be close to him. To tell Severus of my day.

Even though I never missed a chance to be with him, no one could say that I shirked my
responsibilities. The school ran smoothly, my correspondence was up to date, and the
children were as always my first priority. Still there were those who thought that I spent
too much time in the dark chamber.

And then one day Minerva came to me while I sat with Severus. “This is wrong Albus.
You must release him. You have your own life to live, you cannot let this destroy you.”

“I cannot think of anything else Minerva.” The only reason that I did not take my own
life was that I did not want to risk being trapped in Hogwarts as a restless spirit. I could
not even contemplate being separated from him forever. Soon enough I knew that my
broken heart would send me to his side.

“Albus, come with me. Come out of this oppressive cave and return to the land of the
living. You grow so thin, you must eat something…”

“Please leave me. I need to be alone.” She was already forgotten as my eyes were drawn
to the unmoving form of my lover.

“No Albus! You are free!” She grabbed me up from the chair and pulled me into her
arms, clasping my cheek to her bosom. “He has no hold over you now! He cannot have
you! You are mine!”

I drew back, staring into her wide eyes. “No.” I gaped at her. “No Minerva.” And
suddenly I knew. I saw it in my mind’s eye. That night I had bumped into her in the
dungeon.

She must have just left his room.

In my grief I had never even realized what had been right there before me.

“Yes Albus. I knew that you were going to ruin your life by marrying that, Slytherin.”
She spat the word like a curse. “I had to do something…”

My wand came up; I bound and silenced her. It was that, or an Unforgivable.

The Aurors came again, and poor insane Minerva was put under veritaserum. She was
more then happy to admit what she had done: that she had tricked Severus into taking a
portkey that sent him into the middle of the huge block of amber.

I was there, listening as they interrogated her: I had to be there. After the Aurors had
finished their questions, I had only one: “Why Minerva? Why did you kill him?”

She looked up at me and said in a low monotone, “I did not kill him.”

My heart almost stopped. “You did not kill him?”

“I had to protect you Albus, but I am not a murderer. I found the spell in an old book. He
is trapped, but alive, suspended in time. I intended for him to stay there while we had our
life together. Then he could be set free.”

“Where is that spell Minerva?” I was only just able to keep from shaking her by the
throat.

“In my vault at Gringotts. The book is called, ‘Binding Dark Creatures.’”

---

At first the Goblins were reluctant to allow me access to her vault, even with a key. But
after I dropped a somewhat unsubtle hint that a grieving wizard might not be able to
control his magic, they thought better of it. It was decided that since they had a very
powerful grieving wizard standing in the middle of the trade floor, that perhaps they
should allow me into the vault.

Back at Hogwarts my hand trembled as I cast the spell. This was a very delicate process.
I could kill him if it is not done correctly. Or it was very possible, that Minerva had
actually killed him by accident at the start.

As the block melted slowly away, I moved in to catch the limp form as it fell.

At first I was sure that he was dead. That I had failed. Until his body jerked, lungs
filling with air for the first time in two months. He coughed and his eyes opened blinking
several times to focus.

“Albus? What happened? Did I faint?” he said softly noting that he lay on the ground in
the dark. I heard a slight clattering noise as his hand opened, and a lemon drop hit the
floor. This had been her port key. “I was just talking to Minerva and…”

I kissed him. It took only a moment for him to respond, returning my kiss with equal
passion. As our lips parted, he still looked puzzled. “You act as if you have not seen me
in years,” he whispered.

I buried my face in his hair as his hands gently stroke my back, comforting me, though he
had no idea why. I tell him over and over again that I love him.

Now he can see my tears.

He kisses them away.

End