Title: A Thing Strange and New
Author:
iulia_linnea
Pairing: Snuna
Rating: G
Warning (highlight to view): For mentions of past character deaths.
Word Count: 3893
Summary: On the cusp of freedom, Severus finds himself with company as he undertakes one final duty.
Disclaimer: This piece is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling; various publishers, including, but not limited to: Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books, Raincoast Books; and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: Written for
snape_rarepairs'
July Snuna/"Lost" Challenge. Thank you,
xanthophyllippa, for beta'ing.
Wiltshire, at war's end, could only boast of eight
white chalk horses carved into its hillsides; the
oldest carving, in Westbury, was no more, and the Muggles of that area
had immediately
removed all traces of the Mosmordre that Voldemort had left in its
place.
Severus still did not understand why the Dark Lord had felt it
necessary to draw so much
attention to himself by conducting his Dark power-raising ritual near
the landmark toward the
end of the war, but it did not matter: Potter had succeeded in his task
as Severus had succeeded in
his, and now the only thing left for survivors to do was to repair or
hide what damage they could
and go on with their lives-after they buried their dead, of
course, or made proper goodbyes to
those they had not been able to save.
The latter was what had brought Severus into Wiltshire and to
the blasted Westbury hillside that
still stank of pitch, despite the fact that there was no trace of it.
Until the end, Lucius had trusted
him. At the end, when there were no more Malfoys in Britain, Severus
had discovered that
Lucius had named him executor to the Malfoy estate.
That had been a surprise; the shock had been that he was to be
allowed to carry out his duties.
Scrimgeour himself had held the documents proving Severus'
innocence, documents which
Albus, it seemed, had left in the Minister of Magic's care.
"Just as you didn't know who all the Death
Eaters were," Scrimgeour had said, "you
didn't know
every Order member. Discretion, as you very well know, was
crucial."
Discretion, Severus thought, walking alone
in the ruined grasses, was everything. But what to do,
now?
With only one duty left to him, Severus would soon be free; he
had never felt more trapped in his
life. It had been years since his actions were his to direct.
Scrimgeour had suggested to him that
he might seek reinstatement at Hogwarts, but Severus, however adrift he
felt, had no intention of
seeking to anchor himself to the school. There were too many memories
there, too many
emotional revenants drifting through its halls to allow him a
comfortable return.
And one portrait I never wish to see,
Severus thought, turning his mind to his task.
It was not quite true that there were no more Malfoys in
Britain. Soon, there would again be an
heir, no matter that Pansy Parkinson was loathe to admit to the
paternity of the child she was
carrying. When Severus had gone to see her to make the necessary and
appropriate arrangements,
Pansy had been too furious, too grief-stricken, too frightened to
listen to him.
"I don't know if I want the baby to carry
his name. It's . . . it's so dangerous for us,
now-it may
never be safe again. If I could have spoken to Draco, just once . . .
."
Severus did not believe that Pansy's fears were
justified because Scrimgeour was determined to
set wizarding society to rights again by ignoring as much of the
unpleasantness surrounding its
"unthreatening" wrongs as possible-much
as Fudge had been wont to do.
Pansy wasn't a Death Eater. No one will
trouble her, Severus thought, examining the earth for
traces of the burial mound.
For two years, the Dark Lord had suffered Draco's
presence among his ranks, two long years in
which Severus had done everything within his power to see that the
younger wizard remained
safe while also funneling information to the Order. Meeting with his
unlikely contact had been
his only respite from the nightmarish existence in which he had found
himself.
Severus had confided things to his contact that he had barely
admitted to himself, and she had
taken his words in stride and urged him to remember that
"everything will be over, soon."
Her assurances had never comforted him, and
"soon" had been a long time in coming. It had not
come before Lucius had fallen to an Auror's hex, before
Narcissa had fallen into suicidal despair
and been committed to St. Mungo's, and before the Dark Lord
had elected to exsanguinate Draco
to power his last, fruitless ritual.
So much pointless waste, Severus thought. So
much failure. So much condemnation.
Potter, who knew everything, would never forgive him. Of that,
Severus was certain. It did not
matter that Severus had his Order of Merlin, First Class.
Without Potter's approbation, no one will
ever forgive me.
Being honest with himself, Severus knew it was his fear that
Minerva would not forgive him for
killing Albus that kept him from pursuing reinstatement at Hogwarts; he
was afraid to see her,
afraid to see the betrayal burning in her eyes.
But he did not care, he told himself, how Potter saw him.
And so he had come to Westbury to see to Draco's
remains. It was not fitting that Draco be left
to rot in the chalk when the Malfoy estate and its greedy cemetery lay
hard by.
But I don't know if the ritual bound him
here. If I can't move him, what-
The soft sounds of a woman's voice interrupted
Severus then. Someone was just on the other
side of the hill. Drawing his wand, he climbed it, walking up and over
the slippery chalk to
discover a blonde witch charming broken pottery back together.
Narcissa?
"Epoximise!" the young
woman cast.
Severus saw that the pieces of pottery were, in fact, white
clay dragon figures. He did not know
the witch; her cowl was drawn up over her hair, obscuring her face, but
her voice was familiar.
Severus froze; he had never thought to hear that voice again. Lovegood.
Here. But why?
"Epoximise!" the witch
cast again, before collecting the dragons and placing them carefully in
a
sack. Turning, she exclaimed, "Oh! Professor! I
didn't know you'd be here."
"Miss Lovegood," Severus greeted her,
sheathing his wand to cover his surprise. "What . . . what
is your business here?"
"I wouldn't call it
'business', exactly," Luna replied,
walking toward and then past Severus as
she made her way down the hill in the direction he had come.
"It's more a duty, really."
Confused, but not displeased to find himself again in
Lovegood's undemanding company as he
undertook his depressing errand, Severus followed Luna, who walked
toward the slight convexity
of the earth for which he had earlier been searching and began to place
the figures around it.
"What are you doing?"
Luna turned toward Severus and slid the cowl off her hair,
staring at him with those odd, wide
blue eyes of hers.
"Pansy is terribly frightened, you know. She
doesn't believe that the Ministry won't come after
family members of the Death Eaters, no matter what I tell
her."
"That doesn't answer my question, and how
do you know Miss Parkinson? How did you know
that-" Draco was buried here?
The sudden tightness in his chest would not permit Severus to
complete his question.
I failed him. I failed Narcissa, he
thought, turning away from Luna.
"I don't know Pansy well, of course. I see
her sometimes when she comes to visit Mrs.
Malfoy-that's how I found out she was pregnant and
that Draco was dead. They were both
desperate that he not be left here, you see."
"What are you talking about?" Severus
asked, turning to regard Luna again.
"Pansy told me that Draco loved these figures. They
were in his bedroom at the estate, and-"
"You've been inside the manor?"
"The wards are gone. There's no one
left," Luna said, as if that explained everything.
"Miss Lovegood, would you-"
"Oh, am I being unclear?" Luna asked,
smiling sadly. "People tell me I'm unclear. I
always
understand myself, but then-"
"Why. Are. You. Here?"
"I'm paying my respects, in a
way-for Mrs. Malfoy and Pansy, too. I did say to Pansy that
she
might try herself to give Draco a proper burial, but she refused, and
Mrs. Malfoy's in no fit state
to see to it."
I don't doubt that, Severus
thought, with some bitterness.
"Why are you here?"
"I'm the executor of the Malfoy
estate." I was here when the Dark Lord murdered him.
"I . . . I
suppose I'm here to do the same thing as you."
"No wonder you look so sad," Luna replied,
staring at Severus expectantly.
He stared back, wondering for what it was that she was waiting.
"No, I suppose you don't want to talk
about it. Of course not-although people sometimes talk to
me without telling anyone they have, and you can do that too, again, if
you like," Luna said, her
voice both hopeful and sad. "You know I'm
discreet."
What you are is lonely, Severus thought,
recognizing the condition easily but feeling that it
would be inappropriate to accept the young woman's offer.
"Miss Lovegood, I don't think-"
"Of course. I was just-well, are you going
to move him? Because, if you are, I can pay my
respects to him wherever it is you're taking him."
Severus' chest tightened again. "He cannot
be moved."
"Oh," Luna replied, frowning slightly.
"Do you really believe that?"
"Yes."
"Harry believes it, too. He told me what Voldemort
did here, which I suppose you told him?"
Severus nodded, remembering the conversation in question. It
had gone on longer than either he
or Potter had cared for, but it had been necessary.
"I thought as much," Luna continued.
"But I don't think that Draco's soul has
to stay here, you
know, and I want to try to free it. It doesn't seem like a
nice thing at all, to be bound to all this
chalk."
No, it doesn't. "I
couldn't speak to the matter of souls."
"Well, I think I might be able to. It's a
simple thing, really. That's why I brought Draco his toys.
He can fly away with them. You don't mind if I try, do
you?"
"No," Severus said-because he
could not think of anything else to say-as he watched Luna
pull a silver flask from her robes, uncork it, and apply a drop of
whatever potion it held to each
of the figures, thinking, You were never quite sound, but at
least you're harmless. At least you're
here. "Just what is it, exactly, you intend to
do?"
Luna drew her wand, made a circular motion around the
dragon-surrounded mound, and cast,
"Flagrate!"
A ring of flame appeared in the air, and Luna, by virtue of
"tapping" her wand downward, caused
the ring to lower itself around Draco's resting place.
"Draco? I know you're here. It's
safe now. You should-"
Alarmed at the thought that Lovegood might actually succeed in
conjuring Draco's resting ghost,
Severus said, "You can't be
seri-"
"-come out, now," Luna
continued, before tucking her wand back up her sleeve and waiting.
A moment later, the ethereal form of Draco Malfoy unfurled
itself from the earth.
"Hello," Luna said to the ghost.
Draco blinked.
"Draco," Severus said, and the ghost
turned to regard him, its eyes narrowing. "I'm . .
. sorry."
"You should be. You left me here!"
Severus flinched, and the tightness in his chest pressed
against his ribs painfully. It had never
occurred to him, as it had obviously occurred to Lovegood, that Draco
might not go beyond the
Veil. He had no idea what to say.
Nothing I could say would make up for how badly I
failed him.
When the Dark Lord had murdered Draco, in fact, Severus had
been certain that his own death
would follow at once by virtue of the Unbreakable Vow he had sworn to
Narcissa. In the long
months since Draco had died and Narcissa had run mad, Severus had never
been able to decide
whether he was relieved or disappointed that the vow had not taken him,
as well.
"I . . . know," Severus admitted. But
it all happened so fast!
"Would you two like a moment?" Luna asked,
looking from Draco's ghost to Severus and
backing away.
It stirred something within Severus that she would think of
his privacy.
"What are you doing here, Lovegood?" Draco
said, attempting to cross the barrier of flame.
"That . . . that won't work,"
Severus said, hoarsely.
"No," Luna agreed, "it
won't. You're bound to this place, at least, for
now. I had to be certain
you'd stay long enough to listen to me."
Petulantly, Draco insisted, "I don't
understand. Why can't I leave? I don't like it
here. I want to
leave!"
Guilt making him angry, Severus snapped, "Then
perhaps you should leave off whining and
allow Miss Lovegood to help you."
Eyes widening, Draco said, "All right."
"Well, if you're sure you don't
want to stay, all you really need do is follow them," Luna
told
Draco, indicating the dragon figures with a nod of her head.
Severus began to think he understood what Lovegood was playing
at. But what if it doesn't
work?
The thought of Draco being bound to the place in which he had
died, bound and alone, was not
something he wanted to contemplate. He had come to say goodbye because
he had thought that
was all he could do for Draco. He barely dared hope that the enigmatic
witch standing next to
him might be able to do something more.
"Hey, I know those-they're mine!
How did you-"
"Don't you want to say something to
Professor Snape, first?"
"Why should I? It's his fault that
I'm here! Voldemort put me here, and he let him!"
Luna made an irritated clucking sound. "You never
were very nice, Draco, but, now that you're
dead, you might-"
"I'm dead?"
"Yes, you are. I thought you understood
that."
Draco scowled in confusion.
"Draco," Severus said, with some
effort-he was as confused as the
ghost-"I'm sorry. I
couldn't stop him."
"You didn't even try!"
"I don't think you're being
fair, Draco," said Luna, "and you might try to be.
Can't you see how
upset Professor Snape is?"
"He's no professor. He's a Death
Eater. He . . . he killed Dumbledore!"
"I know that. But he had to-Harry told me
that."
Severus started. "Potter told you that I had
to?" He understands? He accepts
that I-
"Harry's still angry with you, of course,
but he's not so angry that he can't be fair. I
think," Luna
continued, looking at Severus with concern and walking toward him to
lay a warm hand on
his arm, "that he'll understand in time. I
understand, you know."
Severus stared into Luna's eyes, and the compassion
he saw shining from them burned into him.
I don't deserve your understanding. I never have.
"Potter won't-"
"This is all rather touching, but I'm
still stuck! Are you going to help me or not?" Draco
demanded, pacing within the confines of the circle.
"Of course I'm going to help
you," Luna said, drawing her wand, "after you make
things right,
Draco."
"But he left me here!"
"No, he didn't. Well, all right, he
did-but only for a while. Everyone was rather busy with
Voldemort and Death Eaters and the war, you know. And you saw how it
was, so you should
know that-"
"Oh, fine! I know it's not your fault
I'm dead," Draco said to Severus, before almost at
once
turning toward Luna to ask, "I'm really
dead?"
Luna nodded.
"Father will be furious with me."
"I don't see how, inasmuch as
he's dead as well, but why?" Luna asked.
"Because I died without an heir! I suppose mother
could remarry, but-"
"Don't tell him about Narcissa!"
Severus hissed.
Luna did not appear to hear him as she replied to Draco,
"Pansy's pregnant."
"What?"
Luna smiled. "Pansy's pregnant, and
Professor Snape's handling your family's affairs.
But I
think that Pansy's being stubborn about things. Perhaps you
could-"
Draco turned to Severus. "Pansy won't
accept our child's inheritance?"
"She's afraid of the potential
repercussions of doing so, at least, as she perceives them,"
Severus
replied. "I don't believe she'll be
giving your child your name, either."
"What? That's nonsense! Where is
she?"
Luna whispered to Severus, "That was a good
idea-to get him mad, I mean." To Draco, she
said, "The dragons are charmed to take you home."
Draco appeared impressed. "Yeah? You did that,
Lovegood? But why?"
"I've . . . I've been working as
your mother's companion. She's been ill."
Ah, so that's it. Lovegood must work at St.
Mungo's, Severus thought.
In their meetings together, he had never discovered what she
had been doing since she had left
Hogwarts. There had never been much time, and Severus had never
actually been good at making
small talk.
"And Pansy visits your mother, you see,"
Luna continued, "which is how I found out that she was
pregnant and frightened."
"Who won?" Draco demanded. "Oh,
of course. They did. No wonder-she must be terrified to
be behaving so stupidly. It's not as if the Parkinsons ever
had much money."
"I don't know about that," Luna
replied, "but I do think that it's no good for
Pansy to be so
worried while she's pregnant. I thought that, if you were
still here, I could help you return to the
manor and then persuade Pansy to visit you. Would you like
that?"
"Do it! Do it-please," Draco
said. "I'll talk to her. My son should be a
Malfoy."
Severus smirked. He had not thought to ever see Draco again,
to see him looking anything other
than terrified or numb. However surreal the moment was for him, that
Luna Lovegood had
affected such a change in Draco was gratifying. It amazed him that she
had even thought to
attempt to help Draco.
But then, she tried to help me, didn't she?
"Draconifors!" Luna
cast, pointing her wand at each figure in turn and then banishing the
fire
circle. "Well?" she asked Draco, as the figures
transmogrified into tiny, living dragons and took to the air,
"aren't you going to follow them? I promise to do
everything I can to bring Pansy to the
manor."
"You're all right, Loony," Draco
said, his form fading and stretching as it reached out to follow
the dragons toward the Malfoy estate.
Luna sighed as she watched Draco go, and Severus held his
breath as he watched Luna.
Releasing his breath, he told her, "He should not
have called you that."
"What? Loony? People have always called me
that," she replied matter-of-factly, looking rather
pleased with herself. "I think it worked, but we
won't know until we return to the manor. Would
you like to come with me?"
"Where on earth did you find a soul-guiding
spell?"
"I read a lot, you know."
No, I didn't. I . . . I know nothing about
you. "When do you find the time?"
"There's always time to read, Professor.
I'm studying to be a mediwitch, and the library at St.
Mungo's is really rather complete. You'd be
surprised."
I am surprised, Severus thought, looking at
Luna as if he had never seen her before and
wondering why she was still bothering to speak to him now that her task
was completed.
Attractive young witches had never spared any time for him in
the past.
Unless it was their 'duty'
to do so, Severus told himself, feeling low.
"If you don't mind my saying so, Professor
Snape, you seem rather tired. Are you hungry? I
brought lunch with me. I'm sure Dad packed enough to
share."
"I never thanked you, Luna-may I call you
Luna?"
"You just did," she replied.
"And if you want to thank me for something, you should
probably
tell me about what."
"For taking my information to the Order, for what
you did for Draco." For not treating me like
an ogre. "Thank you."
"Oh, you're welcome. I really do want
Pansy to be calm, you know-Mrs. Malfoy is often
agitated enough without her guests upsetting her-and I just
didn't like to think about Draco
being bound to this place, you know."
"I do know. I didn't like the idea,
myself."
"I'm sure Draco really does forgive you,
you know," Luna said, conjuring a blanket and sitting
on it.
I know he doesn't.
"Whether he does or not, it's . . . good to have
that over with. What are you
doing?"
"I told you. I'm hungry," Luna
said, as she pulled a tiny basket out of her robes and charmed it
full size so that she could look inside of it. "Oh, good! Dad
packed roast beef sandwiches-and
so many-I told him it was just going to be me, today, but
Dad's never got the hang of preparing
meals for just one person."
Severus had no idea what to say to that. He felt awkward
talking to Luna as if everything were
normal, as if she had not just raised a ghost and set it free from a
site blasted by Dark magic.
As if we were friends.
Severus felt as though he should leave.
But where else do I have to go?
"Professor?"
"I'm not."
"What?"
"I'm not your professor anymore. You . . .
might-if you wish-call me Severus."
Luna smiled so widely that the dimples in her cheeks stood
out. "Would you like to share my
picnic, Severus? It looks like you could use a sandwich, you know. Oh!
That was a rude thing to
say, wasn't it?" Luna asked, flushing a bit.
Severus watched the blush travel from Luna's face
down her neck and lower, and he fought the
relieved smile that threatened to spread across his face.
"No, it wasn't, and I am hungry," he told
her, settling down next to her on the blanket. Suddenly shy, he
admitted, "I've never had a picnic
before."
Luna laughed. "And I've never had a
Potions master before-I mean, for company," she
added
quickly, blushing more deeply as she began to root around in her
basket. "But now that the war's
over, I suppose it's all right to expect strange things, new
things."
"Are picnics considered strange?" Severus
asked, as he accepted the sandwich Luna had offered
and surrendered to the surreality of the moment.
"Well, it's a bit strange, for me, to have
company on one," Luna replied, handing Severus a mug
of pumpkin juice.
It's a bit strange for me to have company
at all, Severus thought, watching Luna over the rim of
his mug as he sipped from it.
There was a moment's silence, but it was not an
awkward one.
Eventually, Luna broke the silence by saying, "You
know, I'm really rather glad I found you
here. I was nervous about my guiding potion."
"Were you?"
"Mmm, hmm," Luna said, nodding as she
chewed a bite of sandwich.
"Tell me, where did you find the directions for
brewing this guiding potion of yours? I'm not
familiar with its like."
Luna swallowed and laughed.
"What is it?" Severus asked, suddenly
concerned. Is she laughing at me? What
did I say to make
her laugh at me?
"Oh, it's nothing, really. It's
just that I never expected us to have a conversation."
"We've had several
conversations."
"Yes, but that was when we had to. Now,
it's because we want to-isn't
it?"
Any nervousness Severus had been feeling dissipated in the
face of Luna's own. He found
himself, in fact, inexplicably encouraged by it.
"So it is. Perhaps we should toast to it."
"To desiring conversation?"
"To expecting strange new things," Severus
replied, and he was gratified when Luna did not
hesitate to tap her mug against his. And to someone with whom
to share them.