Too Far Gone (Don't Save Me Book 4)

Chapter 14: The Pensieve

The next few days seemed to pass uneventfully. It wasn't until the 5th day that things seemed to take a turn... for the better, at least that's how I would describe it. Several fireworks were released in classrooms and the professors seemed to have an unspoken understanding that none of us would take care of them ourselves. Instead, we made Umbridge come in and handle them, telling her we weren't sure if we had the authority to do it ourselves. This angered her and I was struggling not to laugh as she left Snape's classroom in a huff. Severus was struggling as well, though he did a far better job hiding his smile than I did. Had Umbridge turned around on her way out of the classroom she would've seen me flipping her the bird, which sent several of the students into laughing fits. It wasn't until Ron nearly fell out of his chair that she turned around.

"What is the meaning of this?" she shrieked.

"Oh dear!" I exclaimed, making my way over to Ron. With a subtle wave of my hand the letters on the page moved. I placed a hand over my mouth as I pointed to the textbook. "It appears this ministry approved textbook has a typo! It's created more of a laughing gas, rather than the intended mixture." I turned to Umbridge, pretending to be horrified. "Headmistress! Do you think we should check all of the books? What if there are more of these typos? We cannot have the students brewing incorrectly!" I shook my head in mock disbelief. "And to think... these were ministry approved books!" I moved my hand from my mouth to my heart as if I'd suddenly lost all faith in the ministry.

"What?" she shrieked, making her way over to Ron's textbook. She seemed horrified by the wrong ingredient and snatched the book away, placing it under her arm.

"Well, now what will Mr. Weasley use? Surely he must be allowed to complete the potion! It's not his fault the ministry made a mistake." I clicked my tongue in disapproval and I could see she was growing annoyed.

"Surely you have an extra textbook somewhere?!"

"Unfortunately not," I replied. "We have the Professor's copy but the ministry did not provide us with extra copies for our students. If you would like to provide the galleons I can fly into town this afternoon and get another book. Surely you can write it off as a resource expense and Cornelius will reimburse you."

She huffed in annoyance and forked over the galleons. I thanked her and she left the room as I slipped Ron half of the galleons before making my way over to the spare cupboard which held several extra books. I tossed the book to Ron and we continued with the lesson.

***

Later that day I found Fred and George in the hallway. I slipped them each two galleons with a note I had written earlier that day. Nice work!

***

That night I left the Potion's classroom a bit earlier than normal as Harry had another Occlumency lesson with Severus.

"Don't push him too hard," I told him as I wrapped my arms around his neck, his own hands finding a home on my waist.

"He must learn, darling."

"I mean it, Severus. He's just a boy... he shouldn't be dealing with any of this."

He nodded, pressing a gentle kiss to my forehead before I left the room, just as Harry was arriving.

I kissed his head and he pulled me into a hug. "You'll be great, Harry," I assured him before leaving the dungeons.

***

Not even an hour had passed before I heard a knock on my chamber doors. I cautiously opened the door to find Harry standing there, out of breath.

"Harry? What's happened, dear?"

"I-it's Snape... I-I think he may need you."

"Harry, what's happened?" I asked, growing nervous.

"I-I saw something... something I wasn't supposed to see... a memory... the pensieve."

"Harry, slow down. Tell me exactly what happened."

"Snape left the room for a moment and I... well I shouldn't've but I... I couldn't resist... I looked in the pensive and I saw... well I saw a memory of you, Snape, and... my parents."

"What exactly did you see, Harry?" I asked, wondering which memory he could've possibly seen.

"M-my father, he was... going after Snape and... Snape, he... he called my mother a mudblood."

I sighed, remembering this all too well. "How much did you see? When did the memory end?"

"I uh... I saw Remus holding you back... he said they were going to lose you forever if my father didn't stop. He was worried you might kill my dad but you promised not to. My dad let him go. You slapped Sirius... told him not to come near you... you walked toward Snape and then that's when it ended."

"You need to forget what you saw, Harry," I said as I blew out the candle in my room and shut the door behind me.

"How can I? My father... he... was he a bully?"

"Your father was a complicated man, Harry... just as his friends were complicated people."

"Snape... he called my mother a mudblood."

I nodded. "He was angry." I lowered my voice, lost in the memory. "He's regretted that moment his entire life."

"He seemed really angry when I left," Harry warned. "Please be careful when you go down there... I know you guys aren't together but... I see the way he looks at you... the way you look at him... maybe you can help."

"Thank you, Harry." I kissed his head as we reached the stairs leading to the dungeon and we went our separate ways.

When I reached the door to Severus's office I took a deep breath and knocked. There was no answer but I entered anyway.

"Sev?" I called when I saw him sitting in a corner of his office, a glass of fire whiskey in one hand, his wand lazily in his other hand. He looked up at me and I moved in front of him, gently touching his hand, carefully gauging his reaction. I took his wand and placed it on his desk. "Hey, love... are you alright?"

He shook his head, just barely noticeable. I gently took the glass of firewhiskey from his hand and placed it on his desk before touching his cheek. "May I hold you?" I asked him softly. He nodded, once again barely noticeable.

I gently moved into his lap and his hands instantly wrapped around my waist as I buried my face into his neck.

"Potter saw... he saw the memory."

"I know, love... I know... I spoke with him. He told me you might want to see me."

"He saw it all," he murmured, his voice cracking as he spoke.

"I know, my love... I know. It's alright. Listen to me." I snuggled closer to him as I spoke. "Harry is not James, okay? He won't tell anyone."

"How do you know?" he hissed, pulling back and cupping my face in his hands.

"Because I know my godson, Severus... he understands not wanting certain secrets to get out and because he's terrified of you," I chuckle. He smiles softly and buries his face in my neck. A peaceful silence settles over us as we stay like this as long as possible. I wish this moment could've lasted longer but the moment we heard footsteps down the hall we knew this couldn't last. As far as anyone else was concerned we were broken up and as far as Umbridge was concerned... we were forbidden to be together.