Chapter 9
Your breath catches in your throat as you look at her from across the room. She looks a lot like how you saw her last. Short, thin, and pale with red hair cascading down her shoulders and back.
But she looks entirely different at the same time. Her hair sticks out in a fiery tangle of frizz, and her face has a gaunt dip within her cheeks. Her blue eyes are wild as they look at you, her mouth twisting into a cruel smile as she scans over your body and Severus’ once, twice, and then a third time, quickly.
“Where is she?” You ask, swallowing hard as you force yourself to maintain eye contact with her icy blue eyes.
Your mother laughs, the sound sending a shiver down your spine and causing Severus to reach for you, pulling you closer to him.
“All in good time darling.” She says, her smile turning sickly sweet as her eyes stay on yours. “First, dinner. You must be starved.”
You shake your head, your hands beginning to tremble in anger as you raise your wand at her.
“No.” You say loudly. “No games, no dinners, bring me my daughter.”
She simply laughs again, turning her back on you and stepping away.
“Oh, one more thing.” She says quietly, raising her hand without bothering to turn back to face you. She flicks her wrist, and the ring on your finger disappears, reappearing on her finger. “Thanks for holding onto it for me, doll.”
Severus takes your hand, squeezing it tightly as you slowly follow her down the hall. She hums a song under her breath as she walks, the out of tune melody echoing down the corridor as you walk to the rhythm.
What do we do? You ask into his mind, not daring to take your eyes off of your mother.
He squeezes your hand again gently.
Just stay close. He answers, pulling you slightly behind him.
You take a deep breath, watching as he slowly points his wand at your mother, her head bobbing back and forth to the song she hums, opening a door to another room. Severus flicks his wrist, and a beam of light shoots from the wand.
Immediately, it bounces away from your mother, firing back at you and bouncing off of the brick walls before hitting a painting and absorbing into the canvas. Your mother turns, her eyes churning with wild chaos as a sick cackle rips from her throat, scattering down the hall and burning in your ears.
“Did you really think it would be so easy to kill me?” She asks, cocking her head to the side as she does. “You brought me the one thing that would in fact ensure that you can’t.”
She holds up her hand, gesturing to the ring before winking at you.
“I’ve been waiting for you for a long time, (Y/N).” She murmurs, stepping closer. “Do you really think I would dare to be so careless?”
You take a shaky breath, looking into her crazed eyes.
“I’ve been waiting for you too.” You choke out, ignoring the jolt of shock coming through the bond from Severus at your response.
She seems caught off guard by it too, the chaos churning in her eyes slowly spiraling back into a calm blue as she analyzes every inch of your face.
“Come.” She says quietly, turning back and stepping through the doorway.
You take Severus’ hand again, running circles along the back of his hand as you follow behind her, sending calming energy to him to reassure him that you aren’t falling for her tricks.
She leads you to a dining room, igniting a fire in the fireplace as you all sit at the chairs around the long table. Various plates of food appear as you pull yourself up to the table, and your mother uses her wand to move food onto your plate and Severus’.
“Eat.” She says gruffly, clearing her throat and picking up her fork.
You and Severus follow her lead, choking down the food that’s somehow burnt, raw, and horribly over salted at the same time. No one speaks as you eat, and you use the silence to reach your shield out around you, searching for Nova’s energy in the fog.
You feel it finally, a faint, familiar glimmer of your daughter. You push as close as you can, feeling her warmth and realizing she’s asleep somewhere in the castle. Wherever she is, she’s alive.
Severus catches your eye as you settle back into your own mind, his eyebrows raising slightly in question as he looks at you, taking another bite of whatever the grey slop on the plate is.
Nova is here, she’s asleep. You push to him as you look away, drinking the lukewarm water from the cup in front of you. I felt her.
He nods, almost imperceivably from where you sit beside him.
“Why didn’t you come for me sooner?” You ask, breaking the silence in the room.
You force yourself to drag your eyes up to where your mother sits on the opposite side of the table, looking into the swirl of blue.
“Why now?” You ask when she doesn’t answer. “Why pretend to be dead all this time?”
Severus pulls at you through the bond, his presence reassuring you as he does.
“I needed you to be strong.” She says finally, clearing her throat as she takes a drink from her glass. “I needed you to learn, to grow.”
You don’t look away as her eyes flit uncomfortably around the room.
“So you let them kill dad, and then you left me to grow up with the Weasley’s so I’d have character?” You spit back, your hand gripping the table hard enough to hear the wood creek slightly under your grasp. “So you could go off and be He Who Shall Not Be Named’s errands maid?”
She stands suddenly, her hands slamming flat on the table as her crazed eyes lock onto yours. A snarl pulls at her lips as her chair crashes backwards against the floor loudly.
“The Dark Lord saved me! And you should be grateful of that!” She screams at you, and you flinch back against your own chair as you look at the unfamiliar woman before you. “Your father was weak. His fate was his own. You know nothing of the sacrifices I’ve made for you.”
You laugh, a choked sound spilling from somewhere deep inside of you.
“You know nothing of what it’s like to be a parent!” You shout back. “Now where is my daughter!”
She laughs again, more controlled this time as she steps around the table. You and Severus stand slowly, and he reaches his arm around to circle your waist as you both watch your mother inch closer.
“Oh yes.” She says quietly. “Your bubbly baby girl.”
She waves her arm, and Nova appears cradled within her hands, still sleeping as her cheek rests against her grandmother’s chest.
Your heart leaps as you see her, still safe, still unharmed. But still in the hands of the most dangerous person you know at the moment.
“Please give her to me.” You ask, your voice nothing more than a soft plead as you look at her. “We’ll leave, and we won’t tell a soul you’re here.”
Your mother laughs again, shaking her head as she dares to twist one of Nova’s soft curls between her fingers.
“Not so fast.” She says quietly. “This little one comes with a price.”
You take a slow step towards her, Severus following close behind.
“What do you want?” You ask, never tearing your eyes from Nova.
She laughs again, using her dirty, crooked finger to stroke Nova’s perfect cheek lightly.
“I want my daughter.” She says flatly. “It’s a trade.”
She looks at Severus as she speaks, a smug smile playing across her lips as she does.
“Your daughter for mine.” She says, eyes blazing as they lock onto Severus’, and then turn back to yours. “All you have to do is take my hand, and Nova goes free.”
Your mother shifts her weight, pulling Nova to the side as she reaches one hand out towards you. You turn to face Severus now, and he shakes his head, his face stern as he looks down at you.
We have to. You push to him. I’ll find a way to get back to you, but you need to take her home.
He shakes his head again, reaching for you and taking your arm firmly in his hand.
No. He answers. We’ll figure something else out, I’m not leaving you here.
You force yourself to smile as you reach up to stroke his face softly, pushing a strand of his hair back behind his ear.
I love you. You push to him, filling it with every ounce of emotion you possibly can before slamming down the walls to your mind, and pulling your arm out of his grasp.
You run to your mother before he has the chance to stop you, taking her hand in yours and holding it tightly. The second your hand connects with hers, Nova disappears from her arms. You turn, your hand still in hers as you look at Severus, his eyes wide as he stares at you, holding Nova tightly against his chest.
Your heart breaks and soars at the same time, knowing she’ll be safe, but also knowing she won’t be with you. Severus reaches towards you, opening his mouth to say something, but quickly disappearing in a cloud of black smoke.
“Where is he?” You ask, whipping your head back around to look at your mother, hot tears streaming down your face as you do.
She lets go of your hand now, and you fall back against the tiles as she does.
“Just outside the boundary of Hogwarts.” She answers in a detached tone. “That’s where you live, don’t you?”
You exhale with relief as another round of tears drip down your cheeks.
“This—thing, will lead you to your room.” Your mother says in a bored tone, gesturing to a neglected looking house elf as she does. “I’ll call for you eventually.”
The house elf reaches a hand out to you, and you let him help you up as your mother disapparates, disappearing to somewhere in the house. You follow the skittish elf down the hall, up another flight of creaking stairs, and into a cold and empty room.
The door shuts and locks behind you, and you slowly walk forward, flopping down onto the bed near the small window. You put your face down into the pillow, letting out a sob against the scratchy fabric.
You don’t let down the shield around your mind, not yet. Instead, you hold your knees as close as you can to your body, rocking slightly as the sun begins to rise through the window, falling asleep as the tears dry on your skin.