Dream & Shadow

27* A Promise

Hagrid staggered uphill without a clue about the man in tow. He fumbled in his jacket to take the umbrella out mumbling inarticulate incantations. The gate didn't move an inch.

Severus pointed his wand while the half-giant busied himself inspecting the umbrella. Hagrid turned bewildered to search the reason of the sudden familiar grating of the entrance. Severus Snape smirked faintly visible in the darkness.

"What are you doing out here?" stammered Hagrid not unfriendly, but alarmed.

"I could ask you the same," replied Severus coolly. "Get inside! The gates are better closed."

Hagrid hesitated for a moment frowning at Severus. But when Severus didn't speak, he swayed further along the path; the other professor was forgotten and likewise the evening at the tavern and that they had shared a table minutes ago.

Severus sneered watching the huge gamekeeper until the candles in the Spartan cabin sent a faint light to the snow-covered lawn. He sighed inwardly and for a split-second considered returning to the village. There were things that needed to be done. The thoughts raped his mind and Severus had to stop them. The loss of control earlier was unmeant, but the feelings true. An idea of losing Leonor to another man, a Marauder, overwhelmed Severus and yet it was the best for her well-being. He couldn't forget her reaction, the lips on his skin, her smell. It should not have happened, neither tonight nor at the Yule Ball. The growing intensity of his emotions seeded a dangerous wish; something buried behind a petrified mask. Leonor's tenderness and her ignorance of his past compressed his heart even stronger. She would be unable to forgive him soon.

The mixed emotions carried Severus' feet down to the bushes at the shore. Thick clouds hid the sparse shine of the waning moon carefully. White snow reflected the little light in total silence. The small bay was covered in the darkness somewhere between the distant mountains. Severus rehearsed the planned actions unsure if the shivers came from the words itself, the jealousy or just the outside cold. He had to bring it to an end — tomorrow — and returned grimly up the path entering the dungeons through the back door below the greenhouses. Today he chose the easy way; Remus' presence brought some delay to the unavoidable.

XXX

"Severus, your return wasn't expected before supper," asked Dumbledore with a familiar chuckle. The dull light of an early cloudy morning enlightened the empty Great Hall barely. Even the torches were still asleep. The large room had only two breakfast guests. The glamour of Christmas was already gone, and the peace vanished soon with the returning younger students.

The already expected greeting darkened Severus' expression even more. It would have been a nice change if the headmaster asked forthrightly about Severus' place of the visit, but it never happened. Dumbledore usually waited for reports. The headmaster's aloof behaviour encouraged Severus as little as the gossip of the other colleagues. The mentioning of Cokeworth wasn't worthwhile anyway. The benefit of keeping the filthy muggle town a secret was still larger than disclosing the shame of a greasy childhood.

"I will be away for the rest of the day to commence my duty at curfew," answered Severus succinctly. Dumbledore showed a regretful smile towards the younger professor. The humourless answer damped the enthusiasm about more conversation or to suggest another stroll in the snow. Severus wondered how much Dumbledore knew about the intensified relationship to the Malfoy's or Leonor, but even this wasn't worth telling without being asked. Severus indulged further into the thoughts what would happen to Leonor when the Dark Lord returned. He couldn't ask Dumbledore to protect another woman, not if Alastor Moody took Severus' place safeguarding Potter. Severus importance diminished with the return of Dumbledore's faithful order members. There are things to be dealt with alone and Severus needed to be free from any sentimental emotions to gain the information of the other side. He was capable enough to watch Potter and Leonor from a distance.