So this is goodbye (Snape family)

[Violet Snape]

Selena could feel herself dying; her life’s essence was slowly leaving her body through a long wound on her abdomen where a death eater had managed to hit her with a curse. Despite her expertise in healing spells, she had failed to close the gash due to the dark nature of the spell and she knew that she had only minutes left before she would join many of her comrades beyond the veil. Grasping her wand in a shaking hand, she summoned every memory of her children and husband to conjure her patronus one last time and send it off to Severus, begging him to come quickly. 

Violet stopped dead in her tracks when she laid eyes on her mother. She looked deathly pale and blood was smeared all over her pale blue robe. “Mum!” she cried out and fell to the ground beside her, shaking hands putting pressure on the wound, trying to stop the blood flow. “Mum, no!” she whimpered, tears welling up in her eyes. This could not be happening! Not her mother!
 
Selena smiled sadly at her daughter and placed a hand on her cheek. “I’m sorry, Violet. I’m so sorry.” She breathed a kiss on Violet’s cheek and pulled her into an embrace. “You have to be strong now, the battle might be over, but the war is not.” Violet shook as she cried into her mother’s arms.

[Rachel Snape]

Rachel got the message from her mother's patronus, and she wildly looked around, searching for her mother on the hogwarts grounds. She saw Violet, her twin sister. Rachel ran up to her sister and when she came closer, she saw her sister kneeled on the ground, crying. Her mother was lying on the ground, pale looking. Rachel widened her eyes and covered her mouth, she kneeled down next to her twinsister. "What happened? Mum!" Rachel reacted. The tears welled up as she saw her mother lying there. Rachel grabbed her wand and searched for the wound on her mother's body, sniffing. "I can fix it, mum! Please let me fix it! I can't lose you! Stay awake." Rachel wiped her tears away with her robe, so she could see more clear.

[Severus Snape]

The sound of his daughters' distraught voices reached his ears before he even laid eyes on them and Severus felt his heart turn to ice at the sight of his wife lying in her daughters' arms, a puddle of blood forming below her body, draining her face from the usual lively colour. He caught Selena’s eyes and knew instinctively that had had come too late; he could not save her anymore; the dark arts had claimed another victim, shattering his world with one curse.

He wanted to cry; scream at the injustice of it. Why was he allowed to live after all the horrible deeds he had committed when his beloved wife, the most warm-hearted soul he knew, had to die? She had saved him all these years ago, after he had lost Lily because of the Dark Arts. Selena had turned him back to the right path; given him a second chance and now he had failed to protect her.

Severus closed his eyes and lowered his head, standing silently over his dying wife and mourning children, but he could not move. He could not go to her; could not watch her die. It would truly break him.


Mio had followed his father after his mother’s patronus had reached them; fear making his heart beat frantically in his chest. “No!” the scream tore free from his throat when he saw her lying in her own blood and he rushed over to her, kneeling down to pull her into his arms. “Mum!” he looked her over to find the injury, but there was just too much blood. He couldn’t find the wound and her clothes were already soaked red. “Dad, please!” Mio turned to his father, not caring on which side he really stood. He knew that he loved his wife. “Dad! You must help her. Please! Do something!” he screamed, his eyes begging the man to help.

[Violet Snape]

Violet could not stop sobbing into her mother’s arms, barely registering her siblings and father arriving. She had shut her eyes tightly, wishing that she would wake up from this horrible nightmare. That she would wake up and be at home, in her bed, her mother calling her down for breakfast… But the stale scent of blood was everywhere and her siblings’ voices pulled her back to reality. “Dad?” she turned her head to look at her father with pleading eyes. He always knew what to do and she had always looked to him for guidance, but now she realized that he was just as helpless as they were and it broke her heart because the pained expression on his face made her realize that her mother would not survive this night.

“You can’t fix this, honey.” Selena said quietly, reaching out to gently cup Rachel’s cheek. It was getting harder and harder to stay awake and she could feel the darkness pulling at the edges of her consciousness. She did not want to die. She did not want to leave her family, her children. She always had wanted to see them grow up, see them fall in love and mature, but it was not to be. “You have to stick together, promise me that. Family always comes first.” She gathered her last strength to speak to her children one last time. “Mio.” Selena looked at her only son who had grown into a courageous and responsible young man, even if he was a little hot-headed at times. “You must take care of your sisters. And listen to your father, he needs you just as much as you need him. That goes for you two as well.” she looked at her children, love shining brightly in her slowly dimming eyes and she raised them to her husband.

“Severus…” Selena held out a hand to him, silently begging him to come closer. She did not want to die without him by her side.

[Rachel Snape]

As her mother's hand cupped Rachel's cheek, telling her she couldn't fix the it, she sobbed even more. "Please mum, you can't leave us!" Rachel leaned her head against Violet's shoulder, holding her own hand against her mother's hand. She felt awfully strange, her hand was not as soft and warm as usual but it felt stiff and cold. Mio was on their side as well and mother was talking with him.

Rachel looked at her dad in the distance, realizing that they were going to be alone with him, could she handle that? Was that a good idea to be left with him now that the war is still going. Tears kept streaming and she turned to her mother. "I love you so much, mum." Rachel hiccuped and sniffed through her tears.

[Endymion Snape]

“No!” Mio shook his head at his mother’s words. “No, mum, you can’t die! We need you. You’re all we have left!” he gripped her hand tightly, willing her to stay with him. He was not ready to lose his mother. She was much too young to die! It wasn’t fair! “Mum, please!” Mio bit his lip as tears formed in his eyes. He could feel the light leaving his mother’s eyes. She was dying! Suddenly, anger rose in his chest; anger, frustration and despair and it felt like they were suffocating him.

Spinning around, he glared at his father with hateful eyes. “You!” he screamed. “You should be lying here, not mum! She does not deserve to die! You bastard! You’re not even doing anything to save her!” At this moment, Mio actually wanted to hurt his father. Not just kill him, but torture him for all the pain he was feeling right now. “I hate you! You should be bleeding to death here!” He was shaking so badly now that he didn’t even notice the tears running down his face.

[Violet Snape]

Violet lowered her face to her mother’s chest and cried in silence. She breathed in the familiar scent of her mother, imagining that this was a normal embrace and not the final minutes they had together. When her brother started to scream abuse at their farther, Violet started to shake as her sobs were causing her whole body to tremble. “Mio, please!” she begged him, “Please stop.”
 
“I wish I could stay with you a little longer…” Selena smiled sadly at her children and ran a soothing hand through Rachel’s wavy hair which was so similar to her own. It broke her heart to see them so upset, but she had to make sure that they would be alright before she died. “Mio.” She pulled gently on his hand to make him face her. “You are not alone. Your father will always be there for you. Shush!” she admonished him when he tried to interrupt. “He was on our side the whole time, Mio. He worked as a spy for Dumbledore. Don’t be so harsh on him, he did not have it any easier than you. Imagine always having to watch your steps because if you make one mistakes, both sides would want you dead. He did what he had to do.” Selena had to stop speaking, as it was getting harder to breathe. Now she only wanted to say goodbye before death took her with him.

[Severus Snape]

His children’s begging almost broke him. Even now they were looking to him for help, but this time he would not be able to do anything. He would not be able to save his wife. Severus raised his dark eyes to the four most important people in his life and took a step forward at his wife’s request, wanting to be close to her. To feel her one last time before she would forever close her eyes. The onslaught of his son’s loathing hit him like a dagger through his heart, but he could not even deny the truth in his words. It should be him lying there, not Selena.

When his wife’s breathing became slower and more labored, Severus moved forward, going to his knees beside her. He reached out to brush his knuckles against her clammy cheek and then rested his hand on her soft hair. “I am so sorry, my love. I should have stayed with you and taken this curse for you.” He spoke full of self-loathing. Severus would forever blame himself for her death.

[Rachel Snape]

Rachel saw her mum getting weaker when she spoke to Mio, her older brother, he was frustrated and angry, so was Rachel but she didn't found her dad worthy to even spend time to him. Her mother was dying, could barely breathe. Rachel sniffed loudly, holding her arm over her mouth to stop the loudly sniffing. She kept shaking her head because she didn't agree with her mother. Rachel couldn't find words to say to her mother, a big lump was preventing her from speaking. Feeling her mother's hand through her black wavy hair felt like the old times, that she was curled up on the couch leaning against her mother.

Slowly she realized that it was a waste to tell her mother to not leave them behind. Rachel looked at her mother. "Promise me....to watch over..." Rachel could barely speak the words, she took a deep breath and started again. "Promise us, to watch over us. I will always keep you close in my thoughts. I wish you could stay longer, nothing will be the same without you, mum." It was too painfull to say those words.

[Violet Snape]

It hurt to see her husband look so broken, but Selena trusted in his Slytherin ability to always fall back on his feet. She had to believe that her family would be alright; otherwise she would not be able to die in peace and hunt the school as one of the many ghosts. “Don’t.” she stopped him from continuing. “Don’t blame yourself for something that is not your fault, Severus. You know you always owned my heart and you took great care of it. Cherish the time we had and don’t mourn the time we lost, my love.” She guided his face towards her own and kissed him gently, enjoying the feeling of his lips against her own.

It was time. “I will always watch over you, my dear children. Always.” Selena smiled at each of her loved ones once more and then closed her eyes, her chest lowering one last time as the final breath left her body.
 


Violet held a hand in front of her mouth to stifle another sob and bent forward to kiss her mother’s cool cheek. “I love you, mum. So much.” She pulled back and hugged her sister, crying silently into her shoulder. She couldn’t keep looking at her dead mother’s body or her heart would break completely.

[Endymion Snape]

Mio turned back to look at his mother, shaking his head at her words. They did register somewhere in his brain, but they just didn’t make sense right now. He simply could not deal with this at the moment. Not on top of everything else. Seeing her take her last breath made him wand to shake her, somehow bringing her back to life, but he knew it was useless. “Mum…” he bent down and kissed her cheek. “One day we will be with you again. I promise I’ll take good care of Rachel and Violet.” He vowed, pressing his forehead against his mother’s before moving towards his sisters, pulling them into his arms for comfort, theirs and his own.

[Rachel Snape]

Her mother closed her eyes and left them, Rachel hugged her sister tightly and then got pulled in her brother's hug as they sobbed. This was so unfair. "This is so not right!" She choked on her tears. Rachel gave one last look at her mother and then she looked away, burying her head in her sister's shoulder.

Her mother was gone, only now she is a place in her heart. Rachel could finally breathe through the lump in her throat, She wiped away her tears and pulled out of her sister's and brother's hug. She pulled up and stood away from her mother's body. She found it extremely difficult to stay so close. She needed air to breathe. After a moment watching the sky, she turned her face back to her siblings and her father, not looking directly at him. "We should give her a nice funeral." she spoke softly. "Lots of flowers." Rachel bit her lip as she nodded, agreeing with her own comments.

[Severus Snape]

It did not go unnoticed that one of his daughters did not even bother to look at him and Severus winced as he felt the cold indifference from his child. He wanted to comfort his children, but at the same time he felt so incapable of keeping himself from falling apart, that he did not dare to reach out to Mio and Rachel. He knew that he would not be able to deal with their rejection now.

Severus held his wife’s gaze, soaking up the love in her eyes, knowing he would never get to see them again. Her words touched his heart and his kissed her chastely, her familiar scent filling his nose. “Sleep well, my love.” He murmured and sat back on his heels, head lowered as he tried to regain his composure. The battle might be on hold for now, but there were enough death eaters running around that would happily end his children’s lives.

Looking over at them, Severus felt the urge to take them into his arms again, but at least two of them did not seem ready for that just yet. In one swift motion, Severus pulled himself to his feet, picking up his wife as he did so. “I’m sure she would like that, Rachel.” He said quietly. His wife loved sunflowers especially, so it would be just fitting to have many of them at her funeral. Shaking his head, he turned to his son.

“Endymion. Take your sisters and lead them back to the castle for safety. I will take your mother with me. Stay with them and keep away from danger.” He told him, hoping that for once the boy would actually listen. Then he quickly hurried to the apparition point to take Selena away from the battlefield, so her body would be safe till he could arrange a funeral.

[Violet Snape]

Violet held on tight to her siblings. Just feeling them close gave her comfort and a little hope that they would manage to live through this even with the loss of their mother. She looked over Rachel’s shoulder at her father and her heart clenched painfully to see him all alone. He needed comfort just as much as they did, but her siblings didn’t seem willing to forgive him yet. She tried to catch his eyes before he left and gave him a small, but soft smile to let him know that he still had her support. Violet would always love her father, no matter what and in her eyes he could do no wrong. 

She got up and stood next to her siblings, looking around. Except a few dead bodies there was no one here, but that could change quickly. “Dad is right, we should leave before we’re run over by Death eaters. Let’s look for the others, see if they are alright.” Just now, Violet realized that they might have lost more than just their mother. How many of her friends would have fallen in the battle? At least she knew that Sithon was alive.

[Rachel Snape]

Just before her father disappeared she looked at him, just as Violet did but she couldn't give him a smile just yet. Even though deep inside her she still loved him, what happened those last horrible couple of years were a little too fresh in her memory to even talk or hold him. When her father disappeared, she walked closer to her siblings and grabbed her brother's hand. "I think most of the survivors are inside, we should go inside too." They were carrying death bodies into the castle, and just then could Rachel see what a mess it was at the courtyard, the castle was heavily damaged, there was a small smoke curtain hanging in the air from the fire that had been put out. Rachel shook her head. "Let's go." She said to her siblings.

[Endymion Snape]

For a few long moments, Mio just held on to his sisters, his face pressed into their soft long hair, but when he finally pulled back, it was to look at his father. He could not go to him, or even talk to him again because he knew he might lose his temper again, but he would have a lot to think about after what his mother had told them. Nodding curtly at the other man, Mio turned back to his siblings and started to walk them to the castle, his wand tightly grasped in his hand, always looking for danger that might harm any of them. He would not let any more of his family come to harm. "We need to talk later, Violet, I think you have a few things to explain..." he muttered, not even glancing at his sister. Why she knew so much more about their father than the rest of them did was quite beyond him, but he had to know all the answers to his questions before facing the man again.

[Violet Snape]

Violet took her brother's other hand and followed her siblings back to the castle. On there way the saw many more dead bodies, many more wounded people and she realized that they were not the only ones that lost a loved one today. Many would have someone to mourn in the coming days and she bit her lip as sadness washed over her like a cold shower.

Looking up at her brother, she sighed and nodded. "Mum told me about dad's role in the war because I had overheard a conversation he had in his office with her. I ... " Violet trailed off because they had reached the Great Hall and were surrounded by many people. Stopping, she tugged her sibling closer so they would not be overheard. "Dumbledore asked Dad to kill him and he wanted Dad to continue spying for the order. I don't know everything either, but I know that we can trust him and that he needs us now that mum is dead. I don't know who else knows about his true role, but he might get in trouble with the aurors for the murder." 

Violet stopped and looked over her shoulder at some Ravenclaw student who was throwing them suspicious glances. "We best try to help the others now and look for our friends, I will explain more later, alright? Just please..." she begged her siblings qith her eyes, "please don't hate him. He's doing what he has to do." With that, she leaned in and kissed Rachel's and Mio's cheek before running over to Sithon, to see if they could help anyone.

[Rachel Snape]

Rachel watched how Violet walked away. She would probably be right about their father but now was not the time to love and accept her father. Rachel decided to just act normal with him but it would take a while before she really get comfortable to act around him or even sit with him as she used to do. In the two years there had grew a distance between her and her father. That couldn't be fixed in just a couple of days.

Rachel watched Mio. "I will behave around him but i can't be like i was before the war and before Professor Dumbledore was killed, too much has happened. I'm going to look if i can help around one of the healers. Mio, go search for your friends." Rachel gave him a kiss and walked off

[Endymion Snape]

Mio stopped to listen to his sister's words, his eyes narrowing in thought, as he recalled the last two years. He had tried so hard to believe that his father was innocent, but Harry had seen him kill Dumbledore. He was a murderer! With a growl, Mio turned away and crossed his arms over his chest. "I still want to hex him somewhat bad ... " he muttered, nodding at Rachel when she left. Then he pulled himself together and walked to where he could see his friends, still feeling quite numb inside.

[Sponsored content]