The Dream of One Night

Renfair

Story Summary:
Regardless of what others may think of him, Severus Snape is a brave man. However, a Dark secret in his past makes him fearful of what could happen if he gives into the feelings he is developing for his apprentice, Avrille. What he doesn't know is that her love might just save his life. ~2008 HPFF Dobby Finalist, 2 GluttonyFiction Pure Indulgence Awards~

Avrille Asphodel, a graduate student from Canada, arrives in London before the start of her apprenticeship at Hogwarts. There she meets her future supervisor, Professor Severus Snape, but not in a way that she would have liked...

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Following his London lecture, Severus meets with Dumbledore to be given information on his apprentice for the coming school year. Though he goes into the meeting with feelings of annoyance and resentment over having to supervise a bothersome graduate student, Dumbledore reveals some highly confidential information about the apprentice that piques Severus' interest in her...

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After embarrassing herself in front of her soon-to-be mentor, Avrille boards the commuter train to Hogwarts to start her apprenticeship. Unfortunately, fate brings her a rather unusual traveling companion... What will be Avrille's reaction to this new, rather flamboyant, fellow staff-member at Hogwarts? How will Severus react when he "meets" Avrille and realizes who she is?

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Severus has just been "introduced" to his new apprentice, Avrille, and is rather uncomfortable with the realization that she is the same intriguing witch who bowled him over before his lecture. Though he desperately tries to fight against it, he feels an immediate attraction to her but knows that something which happened in his past makes such feelings extremely dangerous. To make matters worse, Lucius Malfoy approaches Severus with an offer that is nearly irresistible, even though he is loath to accept any help from the former Death Eater.

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After her apprenticeship introduction with Professor Snape, Avrille attends the Welcoming Feast in the Great Hall. Though she is interested in catching a glimpse of the famous Harry Potter, he is nowhere to be seen... Chapter Five of "The Dream of One Night" brings a new friend to Avrille and includes the Sorting of some of our favorite "Chamber of Secrets" first years!

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Severus goes to the Slytherin common room to speak with Marcus Flint about Quidditch tryouts. Though he wants those new broomsticks for his team, Severus makes it plain to Flint that Draco Malfoy is in no way guaranteed the Seeker position.

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Avrille wakes up excited to start her first Herbology observation, but events of the previous night force a change in her plans. Unfortunately, Gilderoy Lockhart also insists on "helping" Avrille with her new task. Professor Snape's continuing cold attitude towards her makes Avrille even more determined to impress him.

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It's finally time for Avrille's fist Potions observation with Severus, but how will he handle it? Not to mention the explosion of "Avrille Hysteria" around the school... Is everyone suddenly obsessed with Severus' lovely apprentice, or is he just paranoid?

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Professor Snape's continuing apparent disregard for Avrille's hard work leaves her feeling frustrated, yet still determined to prove herself to him. However a chance encounter with Professor Snape one night in the library opens Avrille's eyes to another whole set of problems entirely...

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Though he has been doing his best to distance himself from Avrille, Severus nevertheless finds that he is becoming more attracted to her each day. When he comes upon her unawares one afternoon, Severus finds that, though she herself might not realize it, Avrille's magic is still flowing strongly within her. Back alone in his own rooms, Severus contemplates this new development, though he is forced to admit that they way things are, and with what he has done in his past, he is in no position to help Avrille restore her magic usage.

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The feelings of excitement over her upcoming sessions assisting Professor Snape become dampened when Avrille finds her uniquely-named cat, Caligula, has somehow escaped from her rooms. But before she has to waste a night searching the entire castle, help unexpectedly comes to her in the form of the Weasley twins!

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Now that he has been working with her for two months, Severus finds himself more comfortable around Avrille though still frustrated with the seeming futileness of his feelings for her. November brings the first Quidditch match of the season, as well as another meeting between Avrille and Lucius Malfoy, who Severus believes is taking a more than professional interest in his apprentice...

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Brushing aside Lavinia's warnings about Lucius Malfoy's flirtatious nature, Avrille goes down to Hogsmeade following the Quidditch game for what she believes to be a professional meeting with Lucius and the other school governors. However, when she arrives there, she guesses Lucius has something besides business on his mind. Completely vulnerable without use of her magic, Avrille finds herself victim to Lucius' "irresistible" advances...

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Being so distracted with Avrille and what he guessed happened between her and Lucius the previous night, Severus nearly ruins the Wolfsbane Potion. However, some quick thinking of Avrille's prevents him from losing face.

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During a seeming "accident" in the second year Potions class she is observing, Avrille notices Hermione Granger sneak into Severus' private storeroom. Wanting to find out what happened without alerting Severus, who Avrille knows is biased against Hermione and her friends, Avrille confronts Hermione the following day with what she witnessed.

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It's the night of the annual Solstice Ball, and though Severus has faced numerous dangerous and harrowing experiences during his time as a spy for the Order of the Phoenix, the thought of simply asking Avrille to dance petrifies him. Unfortunately Lockhart doesn't seem to have any problems asking her...

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Thinking that he needs to get out of the castle more, and certainly NOT because she's in love with him, Avrille asks Severus out for a Christmas drink. Surprisingly for her, he agrees. When she meets him down in Hogsmeade, Avrille finds Severus appears to be just as nervous as she is. She also learns that Severus + firewhisky = a very drunk Potions master...

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Though Severus is furious with himself for completely losing his head around Avrille, personal thoughts are soon pushed aside when a new attack occurs in the school. After an emergency staff meeting, Avrille confides in Severus in his office, telling him a secret she has never told another living soul...

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After breaking down in Severus' office, Avrille returns to her own rooms to try to come to grips with the fact that she is once more having prophetic dreams.

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Though still worried about Avrille, Severus feels there is nothing he can do for the moment to help her. Therefore he takes a day to return to his childhood home to honor the anniversary of his mother's death. Being there brings back a memory Severus would rather forget: the night of his father's death. What happened that night which makes Severus so afraid of his love for Avrille?

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Since her vision of the recent attack, Avrille finds herself too fearful of having another one to sleep at night. However, a happy surprise comes one morning when she receives a letter from Severus inviting her out to Hogsmeade on Christmas Eve. She obviously accepts and that night the two find themselves once more alone together. A heart to heart in the Shrieking Shack followed by a playful snowball fight seems to make Severus lower his walls slightly... Will a slightly sleep-deprived Avrille take advantage of the moment and finally declare her love for him once and for all?

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Now that he knows Avrille loves him as well, Severus debates with himself what the best course of action for the two of them would now be. Forcing all thoughts of the Death Wish aside, Severus decides to keep the affair private to simply enjoy himself for a change. After all, it's safe to assume that the subject that the Death Wish deals with won't come up for a long time, right? Unfortunately for Severus, an unexpected late-night visit from Avrille ends up banishing any thoughts he might have had of his apprentice being someone to take things slowly...

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After Avrille spends the night in his room, Severus, unsurprisingly, decides they need to lay down some "rules" for their relationship. Later in the evening, the pair undergo their first test of discretion when they attend the school's Christmas feast. All seems to go well and no one suspects that anything has changed between Severus and Avrille since the day before. Avrille does notice that the Weasley twins are acting a little strangely, though...

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Though Severus is the happiest he has ever been in his life now that he knows Avrille loves him, he fears it might be over far too soon once he speaks to her after Christmas dinner. Severus' conscience will not let him remain with her unless she is aware of his former role as a Death Eater. Will Avrille be able to forgive Severus for his past mistakes?

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Follow Avrille as she deals with ice-pick and hammer wielding first years, chaperones Lavinia on a date, and discovers Severus' secret penchant for love poems. Severus also gives Avrille her first taste of Legilimency in an effort to try and find the cause of her magical difficulties.

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Christmas holiday is over, and it's back to work for Severus and Avrille, who both have to work even harder now to remain undetected by students and staff. An attack-free January brings a sense of normalcy back to Hogwarts, but all of that is soon thrown to the wind once Lockhart gets his hands on Valentines Day. Meanwhile Severus and Avrille are still working hard on the Legilimency, but cannot seem to find any new clues. Severus makes the difficult decision to attempt Passive Legilimency on Avrille, where he will delve deep into her unconscious and most strongly guarded thoughts...

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Now that Avrille has full use of her powers once more, she has the daunting task of learning to use them without potentially blowing up everything around her. Severus proves once again to be an excellent teacher, and with his coaching, Avrille begins the process of realizing her full magical potential. Springtime soon comes to the school, and Avrille's twenty-fifth birthday looms. However, she feel strange mentioning it to Severus, so she simply resigns herself to letting it pass uncelebrated...

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It's now the Easter holiday, and though Severus is glad to have extra free time to spend with Avrille, he's not quite sure how to fill that time up, given his "situation." Avrille, of course, has no knowledge of Severus' hesitations and takes it upon herself to bring their relationship to the next level. Not at all prepared to handle her sudden advances, Severus panics and deeply hurts Avrille with his rejection. Will he push Avrille further away to protect himself?

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Although all Avrille feels like doing after her unexpected evening with Severus is drifting off to sleep, he has other plans in mind. Avrille finds that getting up is well worth it when Severus makes her dearest wish come true after an impromptu Apparation to Italy. However the next morning, Avrille finds Severus inexplicably missing...

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Expecting to wake up in Avrille's arms, Severus is therefore quite surprised when he finds himself in total darkness and surrounded by cold stone. Though he is wandless, Severus is able to conjure a small light that reveals a sarcophagus bearing the words "Septimus Snape". It appears that his father had his revenge after all...

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When Avrille finds Severus is still missing the next day, she knows something is wrong. Reluctant to bring the subject to Dumbledore's attention and possibly get Severus in trouble for his relationship with her, Avrille sets herself to do something she has never attempted before: force herself to have a vision.

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Still trapped and completely helpless without his wand, Severus waits for rescue. And as if his situation wasn't dire enough, Severus soon realizes he is not alone in his father's tomb...

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Waking up immediately after her vision ends, Avrille ransacks Severus' room looking for clues as to the identity of the mysterious girl she met in her dream, knowing that discovering it might be the only link to Severus' current whereabouts.

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Utterly mentally and physically exhausted, Severus eventually succumbs to the Revenant's relentless assaults. However, throughout the painful memories he is forced to relive, he swears he can hear his mother's voice telling him not to give up...

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Avrille has discovered that she is pregnant with Severus' child, but knows she has no time to worry about it at the moment. Now certain the girl in her vision was Severus' mother, Avrille continues to search for the location of the house she dreamt about, knowing that wherever Severus is, he is quickly running out of time.

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Trapped inside his own mind, Severus struggles to remain sane as the Revenant uses its most cruel tool against him: Severus' love for Avrille.

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At Greyadder House, with Charlotte's guidance, Avrille is finally reunited with Severus. However, the Revenant is not willing to let another potential victim escape its grasp so easily...

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Now that they are both safely back at Hogwarts, Severus knows he has to tell Dumbledore about Avrille's pregnancy. What will be the headmaster's reaction to such interesting news?

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What came after...

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