Of Hope And Love

Of Hope and Love

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Chapter 18:

Unrequited Reunion

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A small group of witches and wizards moved quietly through a corridor. Somewhere above their heads there was a battle going on, but down in the dungeons it was quiet. This far they had only come across a couple of Death Eaters, who had all been quickly disposed of.

This group only had one mission: to bring back one of their own.

They could hardly believe their luck when they finally came across what they had been looking for. There were several other cells in the dungeons, yes, but those were all in ruins and clearly hadn't been used for quite a while. This one, however, was closed with a door too strong for a human to break, and from the traces on the dirt on the floor they could tell that it was visited frequently.

A quick "Alohomora" took care of the lock. They slowly opened the door, mentally preparing themselves for the worst. At first they couldn't see anything in the all-enveloping darkness. Then, however, somebody had the presence of mind to mutter, "Lumos." And there, in the wavering light of the wand, they saw him.

Kingsley was, simply put, a wreck; there was simply no other way to put it. His robes were now mere rags hanging on him, their original colour unidentifiable under the several layers of dirt and blood clinging to them. The once well toned body was now thin and abused, wounds and scars covering him all around, and the magically induced damage was undoubtedly as bad, if not worse. The once bald head was now covered with surprisingly light hair, beard covering his face. In their minds everybody thanked Merlin that Severus had not managed to come along this time; Merlin only knew how he would have reacted to the sight.

After several moments of absolute silence, somebody spoke. "Well," Bill Weasley commented, his voice wavering only a bit, "at least we now know why he insists on staying bald."

Everybody now glanced at Kingsley's head. His hair was matter with dirt and blood, but underneath it all it was clear that Kingsley Shacklebolt was, against all odds, indeed a blond. Weak chuckles escaped their lips as they thought about what he would look like with long hair.

Finally, however, Bill muttered, "Mobilicorpus!" Kingsley was raised into air, and the redhead started to take his unconscious load out of the dungeons. The other participants of the rescue team followed him, all glad to be leaving the filthy cell, determined to never return.

*

Severus Snape was sulking.

Of course, this was nothing new. Those who knew the Potions Master even one bit mostly claimed that ti was about all he'd been doing before he got pregnant. At the moment, though, he was both pregnant and sulking, and that was worse than either of the conditions alone.

The reason for his behaviour was rather simple. It wasn't that he was confined to bed, no, for he could understand the reasons for that. It wasn't even the fact that he was unable to leave the Order's Headquarters; although it was annoying, he had to admit that in their place he wouldn't have trusted himself to stay there without the magical restraints, either, given his recent stunt that almost got both him and his babies killed. What bothered him was that in addition to forbidding him from leaving his bed and magically sealing all the ways out of that particular wing of the castle to stop him from leaving, they had also bound him to his bed. Really, would a couple of steps around the room kill him?

Sighing, the Potions Master closed his eyes. One hand gently stroking the strained skin of his stomach, he directed his thoughts inwards. Immediately he felt the touches of three little undeveloped minds.

'Hello there, my dears,' he thought, a slight smile on his lips. 'You'll at least keep Dad company even when everybody else has abandoned him, right?' Unable to respond with words, the babies sent him their feelings of affection and love. This eased his annoyed mood a bit. 'You are all right, aren't you, little ones? Dad's stupid adventure didn't harm you too much, did it?' This time there were hints of fear and sorrow mixed in the babies' emotions, and he sent them sensations of safety and security to make them feel better. 'Fear not, little ones. Dad promises not to put you in danger anymore. We will all just wait together for your Father to come home, okay?'

Severus felt a sting of grief as he thought of Kingsley, although he did his best to shield the babies from that. He was still convinced that he would get Kingsley back; Albus had promised to find his beloved, and Severus trusted Albus to keep his words. However, he couldn't help wondering when and in which condition Kingsley would return. His main concern, though, was whether his lover would return in time for the birth of their children. Not only would he need the support only Kingsley's presence could give to him, but he also knew his lover well enough to know that Kingsley would want to be there.

Just then one of the babies gave a strong kick, and Severus winced. 'Now, kids, calm down,' he then scolded mentally. 'Dad doesn't mind you moving as long as it doesn't hurt, but you're now being a bit too wild. What do you think your Father will say when he finds out you've hurt your Dad?'

The children indeed calmed down at that, no more kicks coming to his way. There were touches, yes, but they were mere brushes against the sides of his womb. Slowly relaxing, Severus started to drift into sleep.

He was soon rudely awakened as somebody threw open the door to the room. "Snape!" barked Mad-Eye Moody, already drawing a wand to take down the spells binding him to his bed. "Get your arse off that bed! We're under the orders to get you somewhere else, and I'll be damned if we don't accomplish that!"

"What? Hey, stop that!" Severus protested as he was torn from the bed by Bill Weasley, although he did silently thank his luck -- Moody probably would have dropped him to the floor while he was at it. However, despite his protests he soon found himself being helped down the corridor by Arthur Weasley and his eldest son, a familiar black robe over his hospital gown. Moody leading the way, they continued forward. From somewhere several Order members seemed to just appear there, for some reason starting to follow Severus. They all stayed quiet, nobody answering his questions.

At last they stopped in front of a door that, in Severus' eyes, was similar to any of the ones they had already passed. Then Moody opened it with a grumble, and the Weasleys helped him into the room.

At first Severus didn't understand why exactly they had forgotten Madam Pomfrey's strict orders about keeping him in bed to bring him there. Then, however, his eyes fell to the unmoving form lying on a bed, and his breath caught in his chest. "...Kingsley?" he breathed, half fearful, half hopeful.

"The one and only," Bill Weasley said, grinning. "We found him yesterday in a dungeon cell in a manor inhabited by Death Eaters. He's in a rather bad shape, mind you, but he's better than before." Now Bill and his father helped the heavily pregnant wizard into the chair beside bed.

"What now, Snape?" grunted Moody. "Surprised to see that your lover boy's a blond? He never told you?"

At this, however, Severus raised an eyebrow -- surprised or not, he was still himself. "I was very well aware of that beforehand," he said dryly. "He never told me, mind you, but I still did know -- there was absolutely no need for him to tell me his hair colour, if you understand what I mean."

Now some of the people around gagged, while others started to laugh. The DADA Professor was a part of the latter group. "Now, everybody, let's give him some alone time," he then said to Severus. "If you need something, Snape, just shout -- there'll be somebody in the next room all the time. We'll come to get you back to bed when the time allowed by Poppy has gone. And do not even try to leave that chair!"

Severus, however, didn't seem to even notice. Instead, he just slowly reached out a hand, grasping on Kingsley's hand, which lay on top of the bed covers right in front of him. Gently running his thumb over his lover's knuckles, the Potions Master then placed the hand on his round stomach. Apparently unaware of the fact that he was speaking aloud, he then whispered, "See, my dears? I told your father would return."

The others all left the room, all moved by this little scene. Not that all of them would have admitted it, of course -- Mad-Eye Moody would forever claim that he had only got a bit of trash in his eye.

Having now been left alone with his lover, Severus sighed. He let his eyes fly over the immobile wizard, taking in every line, every mark, every similarity and difference to the last memory he had of Kingsley. As his eyes met the blond hair on Kingsley's head, he smiled briefly. Somebody had shaved the beard that the black man surely had had after his long imprisonment, but they had left the hair there. And, although Severus did understand why Kingsley insisted on shaving his head as well as his face -- the blond hair did make quite a contrast with the dark skin -- he also found it rather endearing in a way. Maybe, once Kingsley was awake, he could convince the other wizard to let his hair grow.

Then his gaze travelled to his lover's ear, and he winced. There, on the earlobe, he saw a small scar. It appeared that somebody had simply grasped on Kingsley's earring and pulled it away, uncaring about the fact that he tore it right through the earlobe. Severus had bought that earring for him; before that, Kingsley had usually worn a silver one. Sure, it wasn't like the Head of Slytherin to replace silver with gold, but, well, Kingsley had liked his new piece of jewellery, and that was all that mattered to Severus.

His eyes still locked on the man he loved more than anything, Severus started a quiet conversation with no words for answers. At times he spoke to his children, telling them about their father and sending them fresh images of him, the sensations of the unconscious man's hand resting on the stomach that contained their babies. At other times he spoke to Kingsley, telling about everything that had happened during his absence, his fears, hopes, and mistakes, apologizing and complaining and crying and laughing. At last, he fell into exhausted sleep in the chair, which is how he was found some time later.

Everybody who was present then noticed how reluctant he was even in his sleep to let go of his lover.

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