The Sleepers Awake

Chapter 16: Advanced Muggle Studies - Lesson 9/11: A Witness Speaks

The next morning Erszhebet awoke to Severus' black eyes staring at her as he leaned over her a bit while he rested on his side. He had been watching her, quite lovingly in fact, as she slept and stroked her cheek.

"You never cease to amaze me Miss Bathory," he said softly as he leaned in closer. "You are most certainly a woman of many talents...astonishing ones in fact."

"And I myself most certainly appreciate your own prodigious abilities, Professor Snape," she replied gently as she pulled Severus in for one of the most passionate kisses he had ever had from her. "So you are impressed because I can use such big words in English, yes?"

Severus laughed and as he did so little crinkles appeared around his eyes. Laugher lines - who would have thought it?

"A bit more than that, my Angel," he replied with a smile.

"Am I?" Erszhebet asked softly.

"Are you what?" Severus asked throatily as he looked at her intensely with her long dark hair fanned out beneath her.

"Your Angel," Erszhebet whispered as she kissed him again.

"Oh yes. By the Goddess and God, you are my Angel," he said softly without hesitation as he returned her kiss passionately.

"Are you sure," he whispered after he came up momentarily for air.

"Sure about what? That I am your Angel?" Erszhebet whispered back as she gave him yet another kiss he so desperately wanted and started to explore his body with one of her small delicate hands.

"About me," whispered Severus as he gave into her touch. He felt like he would burst in a minute.

"You have to ask?? Even after yesterday...after last night...even now??" said Erszhebet quietly as a wave of hurt surged through her and she pulled back from him.

Her face took on a wounded questioning expression and Severus immediately regretted giving voice to his own insecurities.

"I should not have said that, please forgive me," he said. "I am sorry - I didn't mean it."

"Yes you did Severus," replied Erszhebet softly.

She took his face in her hands.

"I am sure, Severus." Erszhebet said softly, but firmly. "You are the best thing that has happened to me in a long time and I have no regrets about the way my life is changing and will change yet again once I move to England. My mind is made up and nothing will change it!"

"Scotland, actually. Six hours or so northwards from Kings Cross railway station in London," mumbled Severus as he blinked rapidly.

Erszhebet recognized that blinking.

"Well Scotland then...I don't care where as long we are together," said Erszhebet as she gently tucked a short forelock of his hair behind an ear. "Remember our agreement, Severus. No Doubts...unless of course you yourself have changed your mind about me?"

Severus shook his head vigorously 'No' and his black hair fell forwards again as he looked away from her and swallowed hard. He felt as if his heart would burst if he spoke. It was not a feeling he was used to having. He was unaccustomed to feeling other than in a superficial way period. But it was so easy and uncomplicated with the woman lying next to him.

"Never!" he managed to croak quietly.

Severus loved Erszhebet and wanted her with him so much, but he could not offer her the kind of lifestyle she had secured for herself. He questioned just how good was he for her really; how good would this change be for her. "There you go, fucking up already Snivellus," said the dark little voice inside of him. "Just wait until they all tell her about you. Nobody likes you, you greasy git!"

Erszhebet, as empathic and perceptive as ever, picked up on this.

"Look at me, Severus," she said as she turned his face to her.

Severus blinked again as she held his face in her hands; However, Erszhebet could see that his eyes had a hint of wetness. He was struggling again in spite of himself.

"I love you Severus," she said with absolute conviction. "I do not give a flying fuck about what you do or do not have. What I have is ours whether you accept it or not. What we have, we share together. I see you; the real you and I feel it - I know what lies inside and I don't care what anyone else says or thinks. I have my own mind. You are everything to me and I have no doubts or regrets! Just accept it, my love; just let go of whatever it is that you are afraid of and accept it. You are my hero, you know, whether you want to believe it or not."

Severus blinked at her and as his face started to uncharacteristically crumple he laid his head on her chest facing away from her. He held Erszhebet tightly and he twitched ever so slightly now and then. Severus Snape was crying yet again and would not let her see his tears.

Erszhebet did not have to see it; she knew how hard it was for Severus to give into emotions and would not fault him for it. Her partner was as much the victim and product of his life experiences as she was of her own. But they were both survivors and should always look at it in that context.

Erszhebet stroked his dark hair away from his face and comforted him silently. She was certain that Severus had some very important details about his life to share with her - details that were just as dramatic her own. Erszhebet would not push - she would let him come to her in his own time and in his own way.

She had something else to share with her partner and his colleagues today - and hopefully that something might help him to understand her perspective and her decision-making process a bit more.

Erszhebet also wanted the Hogwarts colleagues to understand her motivations for the Advanced Muggle Studies course.

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As it was the last full day in the Big Apple for all of them Erszhebet had someplace she wanted to take them before they did whatever it was that Severus had in mind. They would have to walk to get there she said. It was in Lower Manhattan and traffic was restricted.

As they walked southwards Erszhebet looked upwards. It was still a habit after everything that had happened some months ago. It would probably be years before New Yorkers got out of that habit. The habit of looking up for what was no longer there.

"What are you looking for?" Poppy asked Erszhebet as her gaze followed Erszhebets upwards. There was nothing to see but haze.

Erszhebet signed. It was not a sigh of irritation at the question, she did not mind it. It was a sigh of sadness - overwhelming sadness and despair with more than a tinge of anger.

"For something that I wish I could use magic and turn back time and bring back; for something I wish that I could have used magic and prevented in the first place," was her bitter reply.

The foursome continued on with their walk in silence.

As they moved closer and closer to their destination there was a distinctive change in the air. Birds did not sing. There was not the usual noise of a Muggle morning. There was little traffic. Few people milled about; wherever people were going they just went.

So quiet was it they might well have been strolling along a solitary country lane. The legendary 24-hours-a-day buzz of New York City was not present wherever it was that they were headed. It was a veritable ghost town.

[[[]]]

The foursome stood on the perimeter of what seemed to be a massive Muggle war zone of some sort. Street after street of utter destruction and debris. There was little noise to be heard except for the people working below in the debris field which was a gigantic pit of several levels.

A thin grayish smoke seemed to hang over the place and there was a strange acrid smell in the air. People were working furiously to search and clear as if lives depended on it. A large American Flag, battered by the elements, hung off of the remnants of one building.

All of a sudden someone shouted. As the word spread the place went quiet and everyone listened. Everyone stood stock-still, transfixed, waiting and listening for a sound which did not come. Of course it would not come, after all these months. But listen they did anyway...

"Why...what is this??" asked Poppy incredulously once the sounds of working had resumed.

"Part of the new Advanced Muggle Studies curriculum," replied Erszhebet with a determined air as she surveyed the devastation. "This is our past; this is our present; and damn it if something does not change, if we as human beings do not change drastically, this is our future. This will be the epitaph of mankind."

Severus stood in shock as did Professor McGonagall and Poppy.

"This is social and political science; this is religion and spirituality; this is economics; this is democracy and human rights; this is history coming around yet again," replied Erszhebet.

She took a deep breath and then explained about September 11th.

Erszhebet spoke about what she herself knew personally and saw. How it was at first a perfect morning, 70 degrees Fahrenheit. A clear blue sky. Just another Indian summer day in the Big Apple.

Erszhebet was out and about that morning on her bicycle, taking an impromptu ride to the patisserie and then to the large international newsagents near the financial district of Wall Street, The World Trade Center and the World Financial Center to get her papers and magazines to thumb through at home over brunch. It was such a lovely morning and the good weather got her out of the house; the bike ride was good exercise.

She herself had only just been to the Windows on the World restaurant at the top of one of the towers a few evenings before with some of the executives from the New York offices of her record company. The panoramic vistas from the top were amazing. It was said you could see across several states from up there on a clear day. A clear day as that morning had been.

Erszhebet was in the newsagents thumbing through the latest edition of Paris Match when she heard the first plane roar over and crash into the first of the two World Trade Center towers. She had never heard anything like it before; this earth-shaking boom. Like everyone else in the shop and the others on the street Erszhebet ran outside to see what had happened.

At first it just seemed like it was an accident, a tragic accident.

But then the second plane hit. Erszhebet actually saw the second plane hit as it came down low; too low, and then banked and plowed into the building which was over 100 stories tall. What she saw took her breath away and like the thousands of others on the streets that day she could only stare in disbelief and abject terror. She was not that far away, actually, and stood there transfixed as if rooted to the spot. This was no accident; it was a terrorist attack.

Erszhebet spoke movingly about the horror of those moments and how the day had changed her and her life like so many others. The fireballs and smoke and ash; the response of the emergency services; the panic and fear of everyone who lived or worked in the City; how the city just shut down and you desperately tried to reach family and friends even though with a couple of exceptions, the telephone exchanges were not working; the desperation of the people trapped on upper floors of those towers who never stood a chance. Erszhebet wondered just how bad was it up there that people felt they had no other recourse than to do what she and many others witnessed; the seeming futility of stepping out of a window up to 100 stories or so up - some in couples or groups holding hands. She would never forget that as long as she lived.

The Hogwarts colleagues were stunned beyond reason. The Wizarding world always viewed the Muggle world extremely superficially. They had nothing to compare it to. Nothing at all. This was beyond all reason and comprehension.

Erszhebet spoke about what happened when each of the buildings eventually fell; about how she had never cycled so fast in her life as she did that day to escape the more than 100 stories of debris that came tumbling down and surged forward like a massive tidal wave behind her. No one was expecting that. No one. After all a plane had crashed into them before and there had even been a bomb in 1993. Still they stood.

Erszhebet was not nearly fast enough and someone had literally yanked her off of her bicycle and dragged her into a store. They had barely made it inside and the guy told her it was nuts to think she could outrun that. What the hell was she thinking? They stood shell-shocked behind the closed glass doors and windows with some other people as day turned to night from the ash and wreckage that was falling.

When it was all over Erszhebet could not even find her bicycle. It was not in the middle of the street where it had lain seconds before the debris rolled past. Some of the ash was still in the air when they left the store. It burned her eyes and she could hardly breathe. It had taken her days to get the acrid smell and residue of it off her.

She had found herself walking to St. Vincent's hospital alongside others to give blood and could only look on in shock at the emergency and trauma teams running on adrenaline waiting for the masses of patients that would never come.

After a brief visit to the loft Erszhebet went back to the scene on her scooter with some supplies including a First Aid Kit in a couple of rucksacks. She did not give a crap about the missing bicycle and the things she had bought which had been left in its basket.

She had not been able to get her head around how the skyline had changed. The towers were a landmark; a particularly strong one no matter where you were in Manhattan. But especially in Lower Manhattan where Erszhebet lived. Her friend Carol had told Erszhebet that she remembered what the skyline was like when she was growing up in the City before the WTC was built and how it had taken her some time to get used to them being there once they were finally finished in the 70's. How strange to see the skyline back to the way it had been when Carol was a child.

Erszhebet returned along with scores of other civilian volunteers for the next few weeks, including her friend Carol. They just wanted to do something. Anything. Shift debris; help the cleaning crews; prepare sandwiches and secure bottles of water for thefire and police crews who were tired, overworked and in short supply; so many of their brothers had fallen on that terrible day. Fallen in the line of duty trying to save the lives of people they did not even know and fallen trying to assist their own as they did their job.

"It is important that as survivors, as witnesses to history, we bear witness so that future generations know what happened here. So that it is not forgotten - so that it does not turn into a footnote in the annals of history, in the universal consciousness of mankind," said Erszhebet as tears fell down her cheeks.

Severus placed an arm across her shoulders and she held tight to his waist trying not to break down.

"It is important that we bear witness to the futility and stupidity of man," she continued. "That we look at ourselves and we question what is it that drives mankind to rampant death and destruction in the name of religion; in the name of politics; in the name of race; in the name of economics; and in the name of cultural imperialism.

Why is it that some of us, no matter who we are or where we are from, can not live and let live. Why do we all have so many noble concepts about us as spirits in this material world and how we should all love each other and God and live our lives in his name, when we continue to instigate such wholesale and wanton genocide of our brothers and sisters and destruction of Mother Earth."

Erszhebet spoke considerately her fingers now clinging to the wire fence that surrounded the site, weeping as she did so. As she spoke people that were nearby placing flowers and candles, and also some of the workers closest to them moved in to continue listening to what she had to say. A few took off their hats and wiped their own tears, visibly moved by her grief and the powerful message in her words as they too, gave in to their own recollections of that fateful day.

Erszhebet herself did not notice this - the impact that she was having on people around her; but her companions did; Severus most notably.

"People willing to martyr themselves in the name of something which may not even exist or because these people have much but these others do not. People who are willing to snuff out their lives and yours or mine because they are angry, hateful and vengeful and allow themselves to be manipulated by those that will never be martyrs themselves. The blind leading the blind and everyone else is stuck in the middle, a potential victim of someone else's madness.

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