Snape X reader -a fine line-

Chapter 38

The funeral was as expected. Not many people but that was okay. Severus had been uptight the entire time until the last people left, he finally felt himself relax. (Y/N) and him were now staring down at the grave in the graveyard. It was half covered with flowers and a beautiful tombstone atop.

(Y/N) grabbed his hand tightly, giving a small squeeze and received a squeeze back.

"I'll go get us something to drink from inside." She wanted to give him some privacy alone and slowly walked towards the building. She stopped once she arrived at the table full with sweets and drinks. (Y/N) dragged a wooden chair out from under the table and sat down with a sigh, counting until 60 and walked back with two water bottles in her hand. She saw the black figure still in the same place, but was suddenly accompanied by another figure. She stopped herself from walking any further and narrowed her eyes to see who it was. (Y/N) had to be careful not to bypass anyone who she knew so she creeped a bit closer to finally see the man's features and voice. He was inches taller than Severus with dark hair. His posture was hunched unlike Severus' straight one and his body was built fairly muscular. The only thing visible was his back and she stood behind a couple of branches, careful not to make a sound.

'-your fault.' she heard the muffled voice of the unknown man say.

'You can't blame me for her actions.' Severus' voice sounded angry and was raised just a tad more than usual.

'Oh but that's exactly what I'm doing right now, isn't it? Just admit it already. We never wanted you in the first place, you made your mother's life and mine miserable,' the man scoffed. Severus turned until he was now facing the man instead of the grave.

'Did I ask to be born? I don't recall I did.' the man laughed, his shoulders shaking with the action. (Y/N) had to think for a second before connecting the dots. Was this his father? Didn't he decline to organize the funeral? Now that she thought about it, the man looked an awful lot like Severus, even the same voice.

'You truly are a coward. Useless,' he muttered the last word. (Y/N) tried to hide her panic but he knew how much the word: Coward, affected Severus. She just hoped he wasn't going to do anything stupid.

'What did you just call me? I dare for you to say it again,' Severus shouted in his face.

'Coward,' the man practically spatted the word out.

'You. Severus Snape. Are a coward,' the man yelled back. The next moment, Severus' fist connected with the man's face and he stumbled backwards just a bit, blood gushing out of his nose.

'What the fuck do you think you're doing.' the man held a hand in front of his nose to stop the blood from pouring out.

'Get. Out. Don't you ever dare visit her grave ever again.' The man held his blood covered hands in the air to give surrender.

'Coward,' he said one last time before turning on his heel and walking away. A couple of seconds went by and Severus hadn't moved a muscle, neither did (Y/N).

'You can come out now (Y/N). I'm not retarted, I can see you.'

She came out of the bushes and branches, cleared her throat and gazed at Severus.

'Who was that?' She asked as if she didn't know the answer to that question by now.

'Tobias Snape.' he looked down at the grave with a blank expression that didn't give away his feelings.

'Your father' she whispered more to herself than to him even though Severus nodded. He sat down, cross legged on the grass and (Y/N) quickly joined while handing him one of the water bottles. A moment of silence went by.

'He's wrong you know. You're not a coward. You're the bravest man I've ever met.' Severus snorted softly and unscrewed the lid to take a long sip. His Adam's apple moved with every swallow and she followed it fascinated.

'Don't fool yourself.' A moment of silence. There were a lot of those the last couple of days. The war was coming closer and everyone was tense, including Severus. He had been summoned once or twice in the last days. He came back mostly in the middle of the night, just standing there in the living room. He would be even paler than usual, staring at emptiness and snapping at (Y/N) trying to make him talk about it. The only thing she could do was be there for him, sit on the couch and knowledge him in her presence. He somehow calmed down after several hours but still refused to speak about what happened. So she had let him. Severus would mostly return to his bedroom and sleep or simply stare at the ceiling. It somehow was even worse than seeing him arriving wounded in the quarters.

'I'm not fooling anyone. I wouldn't say it if it weren't true.' He snorted and shook his head, still not believing (Y/N)'s words.

'Sure.' Severus firmly grabbed her upper arm and not even a moment later, she opened her eyes to find themselves in his quarters again.