Of Shadow, Shine, and Shades

Ch.12 Not Horcrux, Not Human

Caelum became vaguely aware of the concerned voice of a woman. He glanced up blinkingly and started taking in the details. He was still in the Alley. For a moment there he'd thought the world had fallen away... And the concerned witch was the owner of the cauldron shop.

"Mister? Are you all right? Should I floo St. Mungo's?"

He shook himself, spared a glance at his surroundings and Disapparated without answering any of the frantic questions. Safely in his bedroom at Grimmauld Place the mage collapsed on his bed and let out a shuddering breath, fighting the tears threatening to fall. He remembered the time when his lover had looked upon him with contempt and suspicion but that had not been for years. One lone tear slid down his cheek and a strangled sob escaped him until Caelum could get his pathetic self under control. Thanks to his meditation and fully functioning shields he would not break like he had upon his arrival but it still hurt.

It hurt.

But if something, this drove in the first and foremost lesson he needed to remember.

They were strangers.

Severus did not know about snuggling on the couch.

He did not know about the long talks.

He was not the one whose life he had spared.

He knew nothing of their closeness.

He was not Caelum's Severus.

Just another Severus Snape. Someone with the face of his dead lover. How could he be so easily swayed? Could he not see that they were different? One glance and he'd been ready to confess his undying love to the snarky wizard.

"If he even is snarky here," Caelum said aloud and groaned with his idiocy, before smiling. Of course Severus would be snarky, that was one trait that would never change in his lover, as well as...

I'm acting like a love sick teen when a moment ago I was near tears with the pain of his reaction. Ugh.

He shoved the feelings away to the recesses of his mind. He would meditate once he got back to Australia and try to get a feel on his true thoughts. If possible, he wanted this Severus too but if there were too many differences... that was what he'd been thinking about for the last few days, as well as his future plans. But obviously he still hadn't made the final decision.

"Later," the mage promised himself and rolled out of bed, landing softly on his toes. He might as well do something useful instead of moping around. He'd noticed earlier that Kreacher had come a long way in cleaning the place and he could start on the purification. His Master had provided everything he needed and now that Harry, Syl and Citala were all away he could concentrate in peace. You never knew what the Black family magic might have done had someone non-Black attended, even familiars who hadn't spent long periods in the house.

He summoned the bag of stones from non-space and got started. He walked to the attic and made his way down, placing one of the blue stones in each of the rooms and checking at the same time that they were in condition to be purified. Kreacher had done a good job. He was hard pressed to even find a speck of dust.

Finally he reached the kitchen and placed one in the hole that was Kreacher's home. The elf had appeared at some point and had been following him. Now that the stone was placed in his sleeping place, the creature decided to speak up, "Master, there is another room there."

"Huh?" He whipped his head around to see Kreacher pointing at the boiler. Carefully Caelum placed his hand with the Black ring on it and gasped in surprise as the boiler suddenly moved and a doorway was revealed. "What's in there?" he asked, not looking forward to explore a place that reeked with the Darkest of magic.