Moonlit Horizons

Interlude 9, The 42 B

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OK SO I LIED!  As soon as I'd finished this story, I immediately thought of more to write about Sev and Drae, so that is what I'm doing here… :D writing MORE! YAY!

Song of the Update: Alice Cooper – Poison (its very snape, he'd quote it[and he does].)

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A brief thought about the timeframe: In la previous chapter I wrote about Draezyc's death. This is it, in a more elongated fashion of sorts:

Severus watched from the door as his raven haired wife sat on the side of their son's bed and stroked his hair away from his eyes.  Pytheus slept as if there wasn't a care in the world. What would he know about anything going on in the world.

"Draezyc?" Severus whispered.

"Mmm?"

"He will be fine here.  You know that.  This is not the time for long goodbyes when you will be by his side again in less than a day."  Severus reached out and pulled her away.  "If you wake him…"

"Severus." Draezyc sighed.  "Optimism is not a usual characteristic of yours, would you like to tell me what's really on your mind that you're not telling me?"

"You really want to know?"  The eyebrow that had shattered a thousand schoolchildren's egos came into play.  "I want to love you, but I better not touch…."

"Oho." Draezyc more than matched his eyebrow, "Ambush at midnight?"  She flicked a glance at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room, "I daresay we have more than enough time."

"Black lace?"

"Of course."

"Then we never will have enough time." Severus smirked, pushing her into the bedchamber with a rough shove, pulling the door shut behind him.

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Remus and Sirius shot each other knowing looks when the Snapes turned up in Grimmauld Place later than any of the other order members by a good hour, with no eyes for anyone else, smirking at each other.  It had taken Severus months to convince Draezyc that Voldemort was not the way to go for greatness.  That had almost come to divorce before they had their senses knocked into them by an abrasive Mad Eye Moody.  She was a great asset to the team, whatever her personal attitudes may have been previously, and it was all really down to Lucius Malfoy being the usual chauvinistic pureblood wretch that had finally nailed the coffin on Draezyc's Death Eater career. 

Severus noticed Sirius and Remus staring at him, and sneered, fully prepared to make some spiteful comment when his attention was caught by Draezyc's hand moving across the back of his neck.

"Lover, this really isn't the time."  Severus hissed.  "We have the whole world ahead of us and I've earmarked you for the following 48 hours after this is all over."

"Do they really need us? I mean the prophecy and everything, Potter can take this on his own." Draezyc muttered, "And we could just float away into the shadows…"

"Don't tempt me," Severus shot back.  "This isn't the early morning activity I would prefer, I assure you."

Draezyc rolled her eyes, and kissed his nose before standing and picking a particularly spikey looking axe off the table infront of them.  "Can I use this?"  She asked Kingsley Shacklebot casually, "I think it'd be good for my dark and dastardly image, don't you?"

"I was hoping to capture more death eaters than massacre them" Kingsley reminded her.

"Dementor-bashing, of course." Draezyc conceded, shooting a glance at Severus. "What do you think, like my new style?"

"Will they let you keep it? I'm sure we could incorporate it into…"

"STOP!" Sirius interrupted, "I don't WANT to know!"  He pulled a face reminiscent of Millicent Bulstrode and pulled Remus away into as far a corner as he could find.

"One look could kill." Severus assured his wife.  "Dysfunctional woman, will you ever just believe you look formidable without weaponry?"

"No."  Draezyc replied smartly. 

Severus was cut short from replying with something sarcastic by Moody announcing that it was time.

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Potter had accepted his task with as much dignity and grave acceptance as he could muster, and he was making a damn good show of it, in Severus' opinion, which was a rare thing for him to give to the Potter boy of all people.  In a far corner of Malfoy's palatial hall, he caught sight of Draezyc slice what vaguely resembled Goyle Senior neatly into two, blood spattering the wall behind her.  She twirled round, looking for her next opponent and watched as the group of death eaters backed away after watching Goyle's fate. 

"Traitor!" One hissed.  "Venomous Traitor!"

"Oooh."  Draezyc laughed, "Needles and pins.  FIGHT!"

They backed away further, so Draezyc simply shook her head spun the axe around her head and let go, it swung forwards and caught a masked death eater clean in the back.  She picked her way through the rubble, bodies and flying spells and pushed Severus against a wall as a particularly nasty hex flew past their faces.

"Mmm."  Severus looked thoughtful, "Fancy meeting you here, do you come here often, wench?"

"Only on special occasions, I'm married you know."  Draezyc smirked,

"I know it."  Severus pushed Draezyc aside as an unforgivable hit the wall where she had previously stood.  "Careful, pretty young thing, it's a dangerous place for a party."

"Well, I'm enjoying myself."

"I can see."  Severus threw his own curse into the crowd and watched as someone fell to the floor screaming.  "And so am I, look…"

They both watched with glee as Nymphadora Tonks ripped her way through the crowd and pulled out her wand against the Dark Lord himself.  "Avada Kedavra!"

Voldemort's eyes widened as all movement ceased to watch the curse whipping its way towards him and in what seemed like forever to Severus, he reached out his hand mutely muttering some spell and Draezyc was dragged away from her position by smoke-like claws, into the line of fire.

It all happened too fast for Severus to comprehend or act against.  At once, movement recommenced and he heard nor saw nothing but a blur of shapes through what seemed like a mask of muted and blurred reality.   He fell to his knees on the cold stone floor, his legs useless and aching with a pounding sensation that grew stronger with every moment that passed.

He did not see Harry defeat the Dark Lord, he did not see Dumbledore die to protect his young charges, he did not see Moody engulfed by flames, he did not see Hermione excel herself and take on the remaining four Death Eaters alone.  He saw nothing.  "Draeliana." He murmured.

It was Remus Lupin who found Severus, still kneeling on the floor where he had been for the past hour, staring vacantly into the distance, unable to move.

"Severus?"  Remus whispered.  "It's over.  You have to move."

"Like ice."  Severus croaked.  "I better not touch…"

"Come on," Remus crouched down and bodily lifted Severus onto his feet, supporting his shoulders.  "We have to get out of here."

"I can't go without her."  Severus stared right through Lupin as if he didn't exist.  "Help her get back, leave me."

"Severus." Remus bit back any emotion, "She's… She can't… She's dead Severus.  Voldemort… he…."

"I couldn't hold her."  Severus muttered absently, "He took her back.  He took her with him."

Sirius Black edged warily towards them.  "We have to go." He whispered awkwardly, "Tonks is still roaming around, if he sees her, he'll kill her."

"Auror." Severus shook his head.  "No match for Draeliana."

Sirius winced, pulling Severus' other arm over his shoulder, "Come on you, back to Hogwarts before you do anything stupid."

"No."  Severus pulled away, stumbling towards the mass of fallen bodies, he pushed a dead body off that of his wife, pulled her from the floor into his arms and for the first time in as long as anyone could remember, he silently wept tears into her shoulder.

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Now, THAT, was the END. I promise.

Dizmius. X