And Counting || Silvanna Snape

Chapter Eleven

You have my lovely friend Sophie to thank for making me update :)

 The corridors of Gringotts bank were much colder than she remembered. Silvanna had always thought it was so bright here, so hopeful, but now it was bleak and miserable, as if everyone hated being there.

 A middle-aged witch showed her to where she needed to be, nattering away. 'If you don't mind me asking,' she said, drawing Silvanna's attention, 'does it have something to do with your late husband?'

 'I don't know,' she said truthfully. That hadn't occurred to her, but it was certainly a possibility. Everything was.

 The room with the pensive was dark, the only light from the thing itself. The witch held the door and waited patiently for her.

 She nodded her thanks and stepped forward, swallowing her nerves. It was probably nothing at all, but her gut told her otherwise. Her gut told her to run, and never look at these memories, and send Jim back to the care home.

 She poured the stringy liquid in, and plunged her head forward.

 Jim was walking down the street, arms linked with another boy his age. They were laughing and sharing a bottle of whiskey between them, trying to remain quiet in the darkness of night. He was relaxed and free, and just as she remembered him. And happy with this boy she had never met.

 On the corner they kissed goodbye and parted ways, and Jim threw the bottle into someone's bin, tottering up the hill to Crowpot. As he passed the river, he heard a woman cry out and paused, peering down the slope to where another man stood over her.

 Silvanna heart paused as she realised who they were. The woman was her mother. She was about to watch her mother's death.

 She said the man's name, and Silvanna repeated it, but nobody heard. Then, 'please.'

 'Avada Kedavra.'

 A flash of green light, and Jim jumped at the same time Eileen Snape slumped to the ground. 'He just shot her,' Jim muttered, eyes wide. 'Hey!' he yelled, sliding down the slope and twisting his ankles, but he didn't seem to notice. Silvanna wanted to follow, but stood, heels frozen to the tarmac beneath her.

 Jim yelled at him, fell to Eileen's side and tried desperatly to shake her awake. But Silvanna knew it was to no avail.

 Then, 'Obliviate.'

 She rose from the pensive, clutching at her chest as she stared around, eyes wide and damp with tears.

 'Are you alright Mrs Black?' the witch asked, stepping forward and reaching her hands out. Silvanna drew back. 'Shall a fetch someone?'

 'Don't call me that,' she seethed, turning to collect the memories. She snatched up her cloak and stormed from the building.

 She hated Mrs Black, hated her with all her heart. Because the woman she had become was a fool. The woman she had become could never prosecute the man that had murdered her mother.

*****

 Silvanna Snape entered Grimmauld Place with the air of someone who had entered a sewage system they happened to own. She'd been invited here many times, but now was one of the few she'd agreed to come. If only because Evelyn had threatened to drag her the muggle way.

 The navy silk of her skirt brushed against her legs and the thin cotton of her shirt clung to her arms as though it was fearful of exposing them. She knew said shirt would have caused a scowl from Evelyn, and the jerk of Druella's eyebrow as she entered the room told her as much.

 She cleared her throat, 'Good Afternoon.'

 There were less people there than she thought there would be. Bellatrix had not appeared, and it seemed Lucius, Orion, and Cygnus had no interest in the day's events. Walburga - always in Black - snapped her fingers, and a teacup drifted through the air towards her, and next to her Druella narrowed her eyes.

 'Did you have an appointment dear?' she asked, looking her up and down.

 'No,' she replied, waving her wand to help herself to some tea. Not only was she dressed in such a manner, but she was also rather late. 'I might though.' She tried to sound dreamy, and far-off, as if Regulus's death had hurt her more than it had, as though today was particularly hard.

 Druella hummed and turned to the other two people in the room, sat quietly on a separate sofa, far away from the rest of them. 'Don't dither, Narcissa. Show Silvanna her cousin.'

  Clutching the bundle of white linens to her chest, Narcissa stood and made her way over, gliding instead of her usual sweep across the floor. As she approached, Silvanna looked closer, and saw her fingers knitted into the material, squeezing it tightly in an attempt to wring any evil from it, to grip it with her son bundled deep inside. She looked even paler than usual, and had inconcealable rings under her eyes. It was only a few days after the birth, and clearly it had been a difficult one.

 Draco Lucius Malfoy had all the features of his father, and as he slept peacefully in his mother's arms, she could sense that he'd also inherited such privilege. How could he sleep when a war raged outside? Sleep was for the dead.

 Marlene came by Mulberry House that evening, but she didn't stay. They danced to the radio, and shared a bottle of wine, and cuddled in the cosiest living room, Silvanna burying her head into the crooks and curves of her love.

 'The bitch in law wants me to move in with them,' she confessed as Marlene twirled her hair.

 'Ew.'

 'I know. She says it'll look good for all of us when people realise I'm not pregnant.'

 'That's disgusting.'

 'I know.' And then she decided, 'I'm not going to do it though.' Silvanna Snape never would have. She wouldn't even consider it.

 Marlene shuffled and dug her hand into her jumper pocket. It was an old jumper, one from her days on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. If Silvanna closed her eyes and breathed deeply, she was almost back in their dormatory.

 Triumphant, Marlen pulled out a wrinkled photograph and held it in front of her. 'That, is little Harry James Potter.'

 He was being held high in the air by Sirius, his tiny, shrivelled face one of pure elation. James stood a little way away, using his wand to make animal-shaped bubbles that darted around the tiny baby. In the background was a flash of ginger hair, and Remus had just brought through two mugs that were steaming in his hands.

 'It was a nice evening actually,' Marlene said, as Silvanna stared at it, holding the paper as though it were an autumn leaf that may shatter in her hands at the slightest twitch. 'Only you and Pete missing on Order business.'

 She almost laughed that her recent activities were considered Order business. They didn't feel anything of the sort. They felt like grief, and fury, and sadness.

 But she looked at Harry and she thought of Draco, and all she could do was hope. Perhaps one day, those two baby boys would shake hands...