It had been the third time that he’d repeated that.
This time Ginger told him, “It’s the truth.”
“That’s your worst memory; the one thing that you really can’t show me?” his question seemed full of exaggeration.
Her response was seemingly calm, “Yes, it is and it’s really not the only one. Wait until you see the Carbon Copy-“
“Lally, you mean?”
“Yes, I- she was the Carbon Copy, alright? Now calm down before I do something that I don’t want to,” Ginger snapped.
Sirius frowned as he sat on his side of the bed. Ginger sat on the other. The two of them were facing opposite directions. Ginger was starting to look behind her every now and then after their brief discussion over her ‘kiss’ with Severus back in her fourth year.
“So he was your first kiss?” His face had gone very much sour as if he was sucking on a lemon.
“Um… not exactly…” Ginger answered awkwardly as she twirled her amber-colored engagement ring around her finger. “Remember that one time when we toppled over each other in our second year?”
Sirius looked up at the ceiling as he responded, “Yeah…” Then realization hit him. “You mean that that was-“
“Yes, not just an accident but my first kiss. You took it from me,” Ginger berated and then smiled timidly. “I don’t think that I’m ever going to forget about that, you know, before you turned into my personal tormentor.”
Sirius turned around and wrapped his arms around her. Then he held her to him.
“What’s this about?” Ginger wondered in a paranoid manner, “Am I forgiven or something?”
“Erm… I’m not sure, but I think that you should be because I was cruel to you back then and I really shouldn’t have done all of those things to you.” After saying that he quirked an eyebrow at her as he said, “Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? Aren’t you supposed to forgive me whilst I plead at your feet?”
He let go of her and did so. He also held her hands in his.
Ginger was blushing.
“I’m very sorry – apologetic – about all of the things that I’ve done to you – of all the ridicules, taunts, and all,” he stopped a moment and then continued, “And will you forgive me for being terrible to Sni- Severus?”
“Sirius…” Ginger breathed as she held his face in her hands. “I love you and yes, I forgive you.”
“I love you too, Gin, and I’ll love you until my heart stops beating,” he told her as he stared into her brown eyes.
Ginger blushed harder. “I’ll love you until the ends of the world, which is much longer than when your heart stops beating,” his fiancé said as she traced out his brow.
“Does that mean that you love me lots, then?” asked Sirius as he stared deeply into her deep brown eyes.
“Of course, Sirius, I love you lots,” Ginger grinned.
“Okay then, let’s go to sleep, shall we? So we can get some energy for tomorrow’s secrets,” he told her and then yawned.
His fiancé pondered, “Where did all of your anger get off to?”
“Gin, that wasn’t anger that was my long-lived annoyance. What I mean is that at first I thought that Sni-Severus was your first kiss, but now I’m kind of fine knowing that I,” Sirius held Gin’s waist to his as he spoke, “am your first kiss…”
“Whatever,” she teased, “Who was yours?”
“Oh… that…” Sirius’ blushing took him less than thirty seconds to which he whispered, “It was you…”
She wondered, “Same one as me, right?”
“Yeah, the same one,” he answered as he kissed the inside of her wrist. “There’re only two more days left…”
Ginger smiled after replying, “Two more days left and I can’t wait.”
“Me either,” he whispered into her ear.
Then after a moment or two the two of them snuggled up and went to sleep, thinking of the last two days before they would at last be married…
~*~|*|~*~
“It’s now or never,” she assured herself, now walking forward.
The pub’s lights were being put off and she, Cicily, had been outside under Harry’s invisibility cloak waiting for the right time to open the door of the pub. She had come to her senses due to the fact that she couldn’t really live without being on speaking terms with the last connection of her Father’s family.
Besides, Daria had been the only person she went to when she ran away from home from time to time.
“Bugger,” Cicily muttered, feeling the quench of nervousness appearing at the pit of her stomach, but she thought about the fact that if it wasn’t now – it was never.
“Got to get through this,” she mused, now walking forward and taking off the invisibility cloak.
She bit her lip as she tried to open the clear glass door, but it wouldn’t budge. So she knocked and knocked until Daria appeared at the door. Daria crossed her arms and glared at Cicily coolly. Cicily stopped biting her lip instantly and crossed her arms as she looked at her cousin.
The two of them stared at each other, both of them feeling equally disgusted, but Cicily wanted to fix things and there seemingly was one way to do that. Soon she took her wand and traced out the words she wanted to say.
I’m sorry, Daria, but it really shouldn’t be me who’s sorry, you know, because my Mum deserves to be happy. My Dad said that she could marry again. I’ll tell you the details if you open this door!
She shook her head, looking as stubborn as ever. So Cicily was forced to keep writing messages.
I have the proof with me and Dad said that he wanted to talk to you.
To this she rolled her eyes, still frowning, and opened to glass door.
“What is the proof, dear cousin?” she asked.
While she held the stone in her fingers, Cicily answered, “Why don’t we sit down and I’ll show you?”
After they were sitting down at the counter, Cicily twirled the stone three times in her hand as she explained, “This stone is the fabled Resurrection Stone. It lets you see the deceased people that you love. I saw my Dad last year.”
Daria nodded. “Can I have the stone then? You know, keep it?”
“No, you can’t have the stone, it’s actually Harry’s.” Cicily answered dully as she felt something cold to her right. The next thing she knew, Daria was gaping.
“Uncle…” she gasped.
Cicily smiled, “Hey, Daddums!”
“Hello, Cicily, Daria,” Caelestis greeted, hovering above the ground in front of them.
He was wearing the same attire as last time; he wore his button up shirt, worn jeans, and a simple coat. His eyes were still blue and his short hair was the same ghostly silvery color as his attire and body.
“Now, Daria, I have heard that you spoke badly of your Aunt Margo and her new life with the man of her life. Now why is that? Do you have something against her perhaps?” he asked calmly, but he looked interested in what her answer might be.
Daria narrowed her eyes, now letting her anger show as she spoke, “She did not respect your death and she only showed that she was fast. I thought that she would at least wait a year after your death and then go looking for a more decent looking husband, but she didn’t.”
“Well, Daria, your Mother, Mona, did not approve of your words. Your Grandfather Alaric didn’t seem to approve either,” Caelestis sighed, “He said that he was going to visit you in a dream one of these days if you don’t apologize to your Aunt or cousin.”
Then he shivered visibly. “You have no idea how cruel he can be in dreams, let me assure you as much, but then again… he might go easy on you since you are after all his descendant.”
“Dad… you got off track,” Cicily reminded him.
Caelestis nodded. “I know, I did, tyke! Okay, well, Daria, I gave my wife the opportunity that she needed. You see, Severus Snape and her had met up as children, but later on she had been obliviated by a misunderstanding, but a connection had formed between the two of them. They loved each other since they were children, as difficult as it seems to be believed.
So, yes, she never really loved me. She only had a sense of affection, but her true love – her soul mate – was none other than the man you seemed to loathe since the other day. He’s not really as terrible as he seems, trust me. Oh, he wasn’t working for,” he paused to cough out what sounded like ‘Voldyshorts’, “You-Know-Who, but he was working for Dumbledore. He was a Double-Spy and he risked his life working from the inside. How do I know? I was a member of the Order of the Phoenix and I was in charge of investigating You-Know-Who’s life.
I got murdered because of that reason. He found me out and the Death Eaters wanted to find the journal, but the man had his wit in check. Harry, I mean, got to the journal first.”
Cicily sighed, “Dad, you’re practically giving away the summary of how I met Harry.”
“No, I’m actually telling you what I was up to when I wasn’t at home,” he scolded her playfully before smiling. “Okay, so all those things happened and Daria, don’t you dare think that Severus is not the man for her and remember that you must never (and I mean never) judge a book by its cover. It brings you too many stereotypes as well as never seeing how the person (or book) really is like.”
He turned to look at his daughter. “Sisi, I think that it’s time for me to go. I have work to be done, dear, but I’ll be back in time for the Christening of Marcella and Dion-“
“Okay, Dad, see you later,” Cicily said rather quickly, now putting the stone on the counter top.
Daria asked, “Who’s Marcella and who is Dion?”
“Marcella’s my new sister and… Dion? I have no idea who that is,” Cicily answered and then shrugged.
Her cousin smiled. “It sounds like a Greek God’s name, you know, the God of Wine and Conversation?”
“Oh… Dionysus?” Cicily wondered.
Daria nodded. “Yes, that one. I wonder who will choose that name for a child-“
“Hey, my name came from a patron saint of music and musicians,” Cicily said defensively.
Daria stood as she laughed, “Right, and what name might your name have come from, cousin?”
“Cecilia,” she told her.
Daria rolled her eyes as she shook her head, but she offered, “Now, cousin, what type of food are you likely to want for today?”
“Hmm… what is there to choose from?” Cicily asked, now interested.
Daria put on the burners as she waved her wand to get a menu for Cicily. As Cicily read through the choices, she thought about how happy she felt to have her cousin back, but she also wondered about who Dion might be…
~*~|*|~*~
Severus awoke in the morning to the echoing sounds of his daughter’s loud screaming.
He groaned as he sat up and got out of bed. He turned to look at his still sleeping wife. Her face looked very calm and at peace even though she had been angry the night before and even if she had been taking care of the child the whole day.
“All thanks to the sleeping serum that I gave her,” he sighed.
It was his turn to take care of business and her turn to take her much needed rest.
The baby continued to sing her war call – her Father armed himself with the calming potion that he had made months ago in preparation for what was happening now. He also armed himself with baby powder, lotion, baby wipes, and fresh clothing.
Stealthily he took long strides towards the child’s sanctum. The pink and green combination on the walls seemed to suit Marcella’s gender as well as the house Severus hoped that she would be in eleven years later. He finally stopped walking when he reached her crib.
Her large grass-green eyes met his as he picked her up. She gazed at him as her cries narrowed down. Severus let one of his long pale fingers be captured by one of her stubby milk-white fists.
“Good morning, Marcey,” he greeted as warmly as he could.
She gazed at him as he took her towards the changing table.
“And this is what happens to an unskilled Father with his first child,” he sighed; now trying to remember what Margo had told him to do. “Hmm… first pamper the child… no… that’s wrong…”
“Ah, first bathe the child?” he asked himself as Marcella let go of his finger and put her fingers in her mouth.
Severus immediately took her little hand out of there. “No, Marcey, don’t be doing that it’s bad.”
She gazed at him for a few seconds before doing it again as she stared at him. Once again her fingers were taken out by her Father.
“That’s bad, Marcey, very bad,” he snapped softly again, this time remembering what to do, “Eureka! Yes, first bathe the child!”
He took her to the bathing tub that Margo had pleaded him to buy for Marcella. After throwing the diaper into the magical trash can it disappeared. He soon started to bathe his daughter and once he was finished he cast a drying charm and then managed to take her to the changing table in which he applied a new diaper to his daughter and then changed her into her baby clothes.
He finished everything in less than an hour and soon he said proudly, “There, you are now clean, Marcey, and it’s time to feed you!”
Her grass-green eyes blinked again as her Father strode out of her room and down stairs where Margo was cooking.
“Dear… aren’t you supposed to be asleep?” he asked.
She turned to look at him, with Marcella’s bottle in her hand and her right eyebrow rose quizzically. “Be asleep and loose out on how cute my daughter and husband look together?”
Severus took the bottle and fed it to Marcella who took the bottle heartily. “Well, I supposed that you would want to get your sleeping hours back…”
“Sev, I think that the sleeping hours that I lost were worth it,” she smiled. “Now why don’t you sit down and eat your breakfast?”
Her husband gave her a nod, “Of course, but remember that today is my turn with Marcey.”
“I will, but if you have any problems, I’m here to make solutions for them,” Margo told him seriously, but she smiled, now cooing, “You both look so cute together! Tell you what, I’ll take a picture.”
She stood up and rummaged through the closet that was underneath the stairs. Severus sighed as he struggled to keep the bottle of warm milk to Marcella’s little hands and mouth. He was then surprised to see that the milk was almost all gone and his wife was still rummaging through the closet.
“Found it!” exclaimed Margo, now coming back to the table with a very old… camera.
By that time, Marcella had let go of her bottle and Severus put it on the table. Then he wiped her tiny mouth with her bib. She seemed to want to eat it when he tried to wipe off the spilt milk from her cheeks.
“Let me help you with that, Sev,” Margo said, now applying herself to wipe Marcella’s mouth off properly.
After that her Mother kissed the tip of her nose. Marcella proceeded to giggle.
Severus sighed, “You could have at least said what to do.”
Margo frowned apologetically. “Sorry, dear, it’s that you’re sort of a beginner… and it’s better to see and learn, you know.”
“I will learn soon enough, Marge,” her husband shrugged. He stood up and kissed Margo.
She smiled. “I know you will – you are a quick study after all.”
Severus looked impassive for a moment whilst Marcella yanked on his hair.
“Marcey,” he seethed playfully, now taking her hands gently from his hair and conjuring a key toy for her to play with.
She took it and started shaking it above her Father’s head and then accidentally the small key toy ended up hitting Severus on the head.
Margo snorted and was shot a mock glare. To this a picture was snapped.
“Hey, that’s not fair – you didn’t tell me!” protested Severus, now wearing a pained expression.
Margo smirked, “Well, we have more pictures to take… I put a new roll in when I found it.”
“Wonderful,” Severus sighed. “Have I ever mentioned that I’m not such a good picture subject?
To this his wife laughed, “No, Sev, you are! Just be glad that you have a professional photographer here.”
“You’re a photographer?”
“Yeah, I took photographing classes back when I went to university,” Margo answered gleefully. “I’m a painter too so, yeah.”
He closed his loose jaw when Marcella hit him on the head with her key toy again. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Oh… my ‘abilities’,” she quoted with her fingers, “aren’t really that important. I have loads of paintings that Cicily took when she took the house.”
Severus raised his eyebrows. “Those were your paintings? They were unfinished though… weren’t you thinking about finishing them?” His daughter soon dropped her key toy and he caught it and gave it back to her. She squealed in delight when the key toy changed colors as she continued to shake it about.
“Um… I was… but after Cael...” she paused, “died, I couldn’t really continue. Besides, photography has always been a fun thing to do for me – it was my window out of depression during my old school years up until now. A-and it’s fun.”
This time her husband walked towards her, soothed her by hugging her with his free arm, and kissed the top of her head as he spoke, “It’s okay, I’m here.”
“I know, I’ve always known, Sev,” Margo sniffled, “Ever since I started going back to the creek… and here… I’ve always known that there was someone out there for me. At first I thought that it had been Cael because I met him here…”
“Caelestis lived around this street?” he asked her, now curious as to know what else had happened in her past.
Margo nodded. “Yes, he did, but let’s not talk about him.”
Severus nodded and then kissed the top of her head. “We won’t talk about him, but can we continue to take pictures?”
She nodded, now rubbing her eyes from the tears that had somehow sucked back up. “Yeah, we can keep taking pictures.”
After a few minutes, the two of them were actively modeling Marcella out in different pictures. At the end of it all, the little baby fell asleep and that was when Margo had an idea.
“Sev, would you mind coming with me to the dark room to develop these?”
Severus raised an eyebrow. “You know that I can develop them for you-“
“The Muggle way, please!!!” she pleaded him with her grass-green eyes.
He succumbed to them and kissed her. “Yes, we will, for the sake of your happiness.”
“Whatever,” she grinned, “Well, I can assure you that it’ll be fun. It involves chemicals-“
“Potions, you mean,” he amended her sentence ecstatically.
She nodded. “If you prefer to call it that.”
“So… where’s this ‘dark room’?”
Soon he seemed to think that may be in the Dark Room there might be some fun in the developing pictures thing that she was talking about. May be she might oblige to some things that he had in mind…
~*~|*|~*~ A/n: I wonder what he has in mind…
A question to my reviewers:
Who is Dionysus?
Your escritora,
~Meli♥
You must be logged in to post a review on this story.
Printer Friendly Version
