The Incurable Disease

Prologue:

He left her when he said that he would always be there. What is she to do now, that he is gone? He was the only person she could trust. Now she is alone with their unborn child, that he knows nothing of. Will she be able to go on with life? Will there be anything worth living for, other than their unborn child? Can there be a way of life, as she knew it, to go on as she knew how, or will it all fall apart? All she ever wanted was to be in his arms for the rest of her life, however long that may be. With him gone, all of her dreams and her heart where torn to shreds. She could not stay in the place they had lived, not without him, so she left it all behind, so she could try and pull what was left of her life back together. Perhaps she would go to her friends for advice...

Chapter 1:

As she walked up to get her diploma, from the headmaster, she caught the eyes of the man she had always loved and admired. She had always been afraid, of being rejected. She had never even approached him. She always stayed in the shadows of his life, watching him, and loving him from afar, as he excelled in everything he did.

She turned her attention back to the front as she walked up the stairs to avoid tripping on them and making a fool of her-self.

"Darla Gunnerson, congratulations for completing the curriculum here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," the headmaster said as he handed her the diploma and shook her hand.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Darla said before returning to her seat.

She looked at him, the man of her dreams, and was startled when a voice directly behind her muttered, "What is the big deal, Gunnerson? You are just going to die anyway."

Darla turned around to see James Potter sitting behind her. His girlfriend, Lily Evans stared at him in shock. "James!" she cried. "I do not ever want to hear you talk like that to someone again!" Lily said, hitting his leg. He recoiled and held up his hands in mock-surrender. Lily then turned to Darla. "Congratulations, Darla," she said. "And just ignore James. He lost his sense of propriety when he grew a brain."

Darla chuckled and gave Lily a silent thank-you before she turned back around and watched the rest of the class graduate.

Later that night, all of the Slytherin seventh-years gathered in their common room, for one last time before going to the Final Feast. Darla sat by herself, a part of the group and yet separate from each of them. She sighed softly and stood to go to her dormitory one last time to change her clothes for the feast. As she reached the hall that led to the girls' dormitory, she was, called back rather unexpectedly.

"Hey Gunnerson," Bellatrix Black called.

Darla froze, having rarely, been addressed by her classmates. She slowly turned back around to see what the fuss was, about.

"What did Potter say that had Evans' knickers in a twist?" Bellatrix asked.

"Err..." Darla began. "He--he said...he said that...that...err...well...he..." Darla's voice trailed off for a moment before she sighed and quickly muttered, "HesaiditdidnotmatterbecauseIwasgoingtodieanyway."

"What?" Severus Snape asked, his black eyes narrowing dangerously. Darla knew that he had understood. "He said what?"

Darla sighed. "He said that it did not matter because I was going to die anyway," she repeated softly.

Severus began to walk to the door.

"And where do you think you are going?" Narcissa asked. Her fiancé, Lucius Malfoy, stood next to her, even though he was quite a few years older than the rest of them. He had come back to the school to see his fiancé graduate.

Severus turned around at the exit of the common room. "I am going to go and kill that bloody git." he spat. "He is a blood-traitor and he has no right to be alive, especially when he talks about her that way!"

"And have Evans hate you?" Rosier asked. "I thought you fancied the Mudblood."

Severus whipped back around. "I have told you to stop calling her that repeatedly," he spat. "And right now, I don't care if she hates me. That fucking Gryffindor has to pay!"

"Oh?" sounded the voice of Bellatrix again. "And why is that, Snape?" she asked. "Got a hard-on for little Gunnerson over there?"

Narcissa stared at her sister in shock. "Bella!" she gasped. Lucius Malfoy shook his head at Bellatrix's lack of control over her mouth.

On the other hand, Avery, Rosier, and the Lestrange twins burst into fits of laughter. Rodolphus even clapped his girlfriend on the back for the well-placed comment.

Even Severus could not hold back the smirk twitching at the corner of his lips. He gave a slight shrug as his eyes met Darla's.

Darla and Bellatrix were the only two not reacting to Bellatrix's comment about Severus' affections.

"I hate to say it, but Potter is right," Bellatrix said softly. "Her time is severely limited."

"But do you really like her?" Narcissa asked, stepping forward just a hair. "Is it true?"

"Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!" Avery began to chant.

Rosier, Rodolphus, and Rabastan all joined in.

Severus ignored everyone but Darla and Bellatrix's comment. "I do not care that she will not live that long," he said softly. "All that matters is living with the time that we do have."

"Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!" the four continued to chant.

Bellatrix, Narcissa, and Lucius all stared between Darla and Severus. Each wondering what was going to happen next. Severus walked away from the door and over to Darla. He reached out and tucked some of her brown hair behind her ear. Their eyes met and for a moment, it looked like a kiss, would be shared.

Darla, however, turned and fled, unable to stand there and be the subject of a cruel joke, if that was what it was. She was going to die she knew she would. It was inevitable. The curse of the Gunnerson women, they were all doomed to die young. She could not live with that. She could not live with being, reminded constantly that she is going to die.

Less than a minute later, both Narcissa and Bellatrix were, in the dormitory they had all shared and were trying to drag her back out into the common room.

"No!" Darla shouted. "I am not going to be the subject of a cruel joke!"

"Is that what you think this is?" Narcissa demanded. "Do you honestly think we would be so cruel to one of our own?"

"He has always been in love with Evans," Darla said stubbornly. "Why would he suddenly be in love with me?"

"Because he has not always, been in love with Evans, you dolt!" Bellatrix cried. "Rosier only said that to keep Snape from going and committing murder and be thrown into Azkaban on his first night of true freedom! Snape has not been in love with Evans since fifth year! He got over that a long time ago! He has been trying to catch your eye for the last two years, Gunnerson! Do you not get it? This is not a joke! Cissy and I know that you have fancied him for years. Now get your rear back out there and kiss the man! You'll be happier if you do."

Narcissa nodded. "She is right, you know," she said. "Snape has been in love with you for a while now. He wants this just as much as you do. Now come on. You have got a boy to catch."

"All right," Darla said with a smile on her lips.

"Ooh, here," Narcissa said, running over to her desk and picking up a tube of lip-gloss. "Put this on," she said, handing it to Darla. "You must not have chapped lips if you are going to have your first kiss. It's a rule."

"Some rules are made to be broken." Darla, who had never worn lip-gloss before in her life, grumbled.

"Too bad," Narcissa said, then forced the gloss onto Darla's lips anyways.

Darla was, pushed right into Severus when they returned to the common room. She nearly fell and Severus caught her to keep her standing. "Why hello," he said. "Fancy meeting you here,"

Darla chuckled. "An odd coincidence is it not," she agreed. She could distantly hear Rosier, Avery, and the Lestrange brothers still chanting, "Kiss her!" in the background.

Black eyes met brown as a flock of butterflies took flight in Darla's stomach. She had never been this close to the man she had loved for so long. His face closed in on hers as her eyes closed and their lips met, much to the elation of their gathered friends. Darla blushed as the kiss ended and turned away from Severus, grinning from ear to ear.

Severus smirked and let out a deep chuckle. "Propriety has certainly gone out the window tonight," he said softly.

He licked his lips and his eyebrows raised just a hair. "Cherry lip-gloss?" he asked.

Darla's blush deepened. "Narcissa insisted," she said, hiding behind her long hair.

Severus turned to Narcissa, and then looked at her fiancé. "Have you had the pleasure, Lucius?" he asked.

Lucius looked at his fiancé before he bent in to kiss her. When they separated, he licked his lips. "Why yes, Severus, I have," he said with a smirk of his own. "It is quite nice, I agree." This time, it was Narcissa's turn to blush.

She cleared her throat and looked at Darla's dress. "Is that what you are planning to wear at the feast?" she asked.

Darla looked down at the simple black dress. There was nothing special about the dress, except for the fact it was the only one, she owned outside the Hogwarts uniform. They all had to wear. "Is there something wrong with it?" Darla asked.

"Is there something wrong with it?" Narcissa repeated. "'Is there something wrong with it, she asks!" Narcissa cried, throwing her hands into the air. "YES!" she shouted. "Come," she said, walking forward and dragging Darla by the high collar of her dress.

They re-entered the dormitory and Narcissa noticed that Bellatrix had not followed. Narcissa stuck her head out the door. "BELLA!" she shouted. Her sister was there seconds later.

Back in the common room, the men exchanged glances.

"Wonder what they are going to do with her" Rodolphus muttered.

"This goes too," Narcissa, said throwing the last article of clothing into a pile, she considered garbage. Darla sighed as she realized she was now down to what she wore in clothing and her dress, was also going to be tossed.

Narcissa sighed heavily and turned around to face Darla and Bellatrix. "Your wardrobe is absolutely sinful," she said, looking at the black dress Darla was currently wearing. "Take that drab thing off. Let's see what we can do here."

Darla sighed and unzipped the dress. As she stepped out of the dress, now wearing only a leather corset, silk slip, black tights, and her Marry-Jane's, both Black sisters gasped.

"Oh my dear Salazar," Narcissa gasped. "Why have you been keeping this tucked away, poppet?" she asked.

Darla knew that the shock was well, placed. After all, in the seven years, they had been sharing a dormitory. Neither sister had seen Darla in nothing but her undergarments before.

"This is what you are wearing, doll," Narcissa said. "Trust me. Snape will be drooling over you. He will not know what hit him! However, take off the leggings, darling. Skin is not worth having, if it is not being shown off."

"He will have a hard-on for sure this time," Bellatrix said with a chuckle, giving Darla a nod of approval. "The shoes have to go though."

Narcissa looked down at Darla's feet for the first time and gasped. "Absolutely right, love," she agreed. "Give them up right now," she said, going over to her own wardrobe and looking down at her thirty pairs of shoes. She plucked up a pair and walked back over to Darla. "Put these on," she said taking Darla's shoes from her.

Darla's eyes widened as she held up the stilettos Narcissa handed her. "No way," Darla said, trying to shove them back into Narcissa's arms. "I have never worn heels before, and I am not going to just for the feast. There is no way!"

"Too bad," Narcissa said, kneeling down and pulling Darla's foot out from under her. Darla fell hard on her butt and squeaked in shock, causing both Narcissa and Bellatrix to laugh.

"You are a woman, Darla," Narcissa said once the first shoe was, fastened and the second one was being, slipped on. "You will learn how to walk in these as fast as the hippogriff flies." She stood and held out her hands to pull Darla back up. Darla wobbled a bit on her feet, but managed to keep herself standing.

"Now we need an accessory," Narcissa said. "Not the man, love, you have already got that. No, what we need are earrings and a necklace. You walk around a bit while I find something. Unless, of cores. You already have some jewelry. Do you?"

"Well, my mother..." Darla said as she took an unsteady step forward. She was not quite so sure about heels.

"Great, where is it?" Narcissa asked.

"In the drawer," Darla answered.

Bellatrix walked over to the desk and pulled out a box Darla had never opened. She brought it back over to Narcissa and opened it. Darla walked over to the sisters, just in time to see what was, hidden under the lid.

All three girls gasped.

Inside of the box was a set of jewelry, all silver and emeralds...and snakes. Truly unique Slytherin jewelry, Narcissa's jaw was on the floor as she took the necklace out of the box and held it up. The pendant was a heavy silver snake with emeralds for eyes. Narcissa put the necklace on Darla's neck and stared at the beauty of it.

The next to come out of the box were the earrings that matched the pendant now around Darla's neck. Once the earrings where satisfactorily placed in Darla's earlobes, Narcissa pulled out the bracelet. It was a snake, which coiled around the arm three times. Though the head of the snake was silver, the scales were, done in an intricate emerald, diamond, and onyx pattern, with one more emerald inset in the silver for the eye of the snake.

At the bottom of the box was one last piece of jewelry. A ring, the likes of which had never, been seen before. It was clearly a wedding ring. Also silver with emeralds and onyx shards set into the metal forming a pattern that had no obvious shape, but was clearly important. There were more emeralds than onyx shards on this piece, and somehow Darla knew that fact was important. The ring gave off an aura of power and all three were reverently silent as Darla took the ring out of the box and slipped it onto her right index finger.

Narcissa and Bellatrix were the first to re-enter the common room. Severus waited expectantly for Darla, to arrive and when she appeared, he felt his heart skip a beat, his breath catch in his throat. She was absolutely, stunning and he went over to her and planted another kiss on her lips.

"You sure, you want to go to the feast?" he asked in her ear.

"You had better have a ring on my finger, if you ever ask that question again," Darla answered.

"Alright," Severus answered, pulling off his father's ring. "Marry me."

Darla's eyebrows rose. "Excuse me?" she asked.

Severus dropped to one knee and took Darla's left hand in his. "Will you marry me?" he asked. "Darla, I have been in love with you for years, I have just been a coward about it. I want you to be mine and I mean forever. I will never leave your side if you say yes. Will you marry me?"

Darla smiled. This was her dream come true. "Yes," she said softly. Severus slipped the ring on her finger, stood and kissed her again.

"And the Half-Blood Prince shall become King in his own domain," Avery said as the rest of the gathered Slytherins cheered.