Chapters 91-100

The Mists of Dreams

Alina wasn’t sure if it was a dream. It didn’t quite feel like a dream. Her feet were too cold, for one thing. And she’d never felt the air so damp in her lungs before in her sleep. Of course she’d never cried herself to sleep before, so that might be the reason.

She was walking barefoot on wet grass. Fog surrounded her, and she could hear a river in the distance. Something was odd about this place. The cold, clammy darkness felt strange. Not quite alive. Not like a real night. But not like a dream, either.

From afar she heard someone calling. Alina recognised the voice instantly. It was Professor Snape!

‘Hermione? Hermione!’

‘Professor? Where are you?’ She spun around, stopped, listening hard.

‘Hermione? Where are you? I—’ His voice broke, and Alina felt like crying all over again at the pain in her professor’s voice.

‘Hermione? I—I need you. I—’

The mists parted and Professor Snape stumbled towards her. He was ghostly pale, and his robes were in shreds. Alina gave a shriek of shock and surprise, before she clapped her hands to her mouth, cheeks aflame with embarrassment.

Her scream made her Head of House stop dead. He raised his head, and eyes that had been blind and unfocused a moment ago, bored into Alina, black and piercing.

‘Alina? What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here. It’s too close to the river. You promised me not to use the bell.’

Alina frowned. ‘But I didn’t use a bell! I was asleep. And when I woke, I was here. I—sir, I am so sorry! How could the Chalice say something like that! I know that you love Hermione. Anyone can see that! And she loves you so much, too. How could love be against the law? Where are you now? What is going to happen? Can I do anything to help?’

Her teacher held up his hand, and Alina immediately fell silent.

‘Unfortunately, law and love have no more in common than the first letter.’ Professor Snape gazed over Alina’s head, losing himself in the swirling mists. ‘But yes,’ he murmured absently. ‘You are right. I do love her. And if there is one thing I regret, then that I never had the chance to tell her that.’

He turned his attention back to Alina. ‘I think I know what happened to you.’

He bent down and gripped her shoulders. ‘Alina, I don’t want you to come looking for me again. Most of all, if you ever come here again, stay away from the river. Also, keep your promise and do not use the bells.

‘And now—’ His voice grew hoarse and compelling, as it strained to hit a certain tone. ‘Now you will fall asleep again and wake in your own bed.’

oooOooo

Alina shot up in her bed. She was wide awake, her heart was racing. Her hands and feet were icy. Especially her feet. They even felt wet. She creased her forehead and bent down to feel the soles of her feet.

They were wet! Whatever had happened just now?

‘…I don’t want you to come looking for me again. Most of all, if you ever come here again, stay away from the river. Also, keep your promise and do not use the bells.’

The bells. Whatever had happened was connected with her Necromancy. Alina twisted herself into a cross-legged position and proceeded to rub some warmth back into her feet, while she mulled her professor’s words over.

‘Stay away from the river.’

What river was that? And what could a river have to do with the bells? What had a river to do with Necromancy?

Oh.

So the River of Death was for real? But she had only heard the river. It was not very far away, she thought, but also not really close. So where have I been?

…and can I take Hermione there?

oooOooo

At last Hermione rose to her feet. She put Severus’ pyjamas down and folded them again, as neatly as she could. With a deep sigh, she carefully placed them underneath his pillow.

I won’t break down, she thought, rubbing her cold hands against each other.

‘Not until you’re back here, safe and sound,’ she whispered. Another deep breath, and she padded around the bed to her side. But when she pulled her nightshirt out from beneath her pillow, two long, slender objects fell out of it: two wands, one of them made of yew, the other of birch.

‘Oh God!’

He must have guessed that the verdict would be against them and hidden his wands here, so they could not be taken from him by force and broken. Her fingers were shaking, as she reached for the wands. Touching another wizard’s or witch’s wand was generally regarded as an intimate act—not necessarily of a sexual nature, but it was definitely the very personal nature of a wizard’s connection to his wand that was the origin of the uncountable wand jokes that circulated in the wizarding world.

The moment she touched the wands, power flared up and rushed through her fingers. Hermione gasped, but she did not let go, although the feeling was almost painful. The residue of Severus’ magic in his wands felt almost as if he was there with her, filling the room with his intense presence.

oooOooo

‘How is she?’ Ron asked. ‘How are you?’

Lois cuddled closer against him. ‘I can’t really say. Alina’s sleeping at last. As for myself…’ He felt her shrug. ‘I have no idea. Dazed, I suppose.’

He couldn’t help glancing at the sealed parchment on the sideboard that documented the identity of Alina’s father.

‘Yes, because of that, too,’ Lois remarked with a wry grin. ‘I always thought that the saying “ignorance is bliss” is utter rubbish. Now I’m not so sure anymore.’

oooOooo

Back at Hogwarts, Hermione finally fell asleep, too, curled around her husband’s wands, her face streaked with tears.

oooOooo

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