Fighting for love - Severus Snape fanfiction (BOOK TWO of A Magical Muggle)

Chapter 32

After visiting Hogwarts to take the antidote, the couple returned to the Currow, where they were invited to stay as long as Ana is sick. This way, whenever Severus had to leave, she wouldn't be alone and Molly was more than happy to act as a mother to the ill woman.

The next two days were of pure tension among Ana's friends and family.

Her mother called her every day to check up on her. They were trying to find a home in London to move back in and get their life back, but it was not an easy task since houses' prices were going up every year.

Harry and Ginny, as Hermione and Ron, visited every time they could. They wanted to keep the house filled with life to cheer Ana's spirit.

But whenever Ana left the kitchen running to the bathroom, the cheering and joyful moments would transform into a mournful ambiance where everyone would lower their eyes and cease their laughs.

"Her symptoms are worsening," Hermione pointed out after watching Ana running to the bathroom to throw up for the third time that evening.

"Yes," Molly said, turning around to do the dishes as an excuse to cry silently. "Did her friend find out anything in her blood that might say if the antidote worked?"

Severus nodded his head and spoke in a low tone so that Ana wouldn't hear, in case she returned.

"She's having some trouble with her blood. It changed, but she cannot achieve a conclusion, and neither can I."

"Is there anything we can do?" Hermione asked. "I could ask someone in the Ministry to help you out."

"We already asked for help. Alba is meeting someday during this week with other investigators."

"Alright... please, let me know if there's anything I can help you with."

Severus quietly thanked Hermione who helped Molly cleaning up the dining table.

***

The next day, Ana woke up in a jolt due to a nightmare. Severus woke up at the same time, since he also had a nightmare, and, as he noticed Ana's heavy breathing, he understood that she must have transmitted her dreams into his kind unconsciously.

He turned on the light to check on her.

"Are you alright, love?"

Ana tried to steady her breathing, laying on the pillow again.

"Yeah, it was just a nightmare," she sighed, rubbing her hands in her face.

"Corridor in flames, children screaming?"

Ana looked at Severus, confused

"Yes. It happened again?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Sorry."

The raven-haired man pulled Ana against his chest and brushed her hair.

"It's still 7 A.M.. sleep my angel," he whispered. "I am by your side."

Ana felt comfortable enough to fall asleep, but when she woke up, Severus was gone.

"Sev?"

He was not in the bedroom or the bathroom. Ana walked out of the room, trying her robe around her waist, curious about Severus' whereabouts.

He was in the kitchen, in front of the stove, cooking.

"Good morning... Where's Molly?"

"Out all day. Everyone is out today. Ginny has the first Quidditch training of the year and they all went to see her and spend some family time."

"Oh, that's why you were able to approach the kitchen to do anything," Ana laughed. Molly never allows anyone to cook in her house. She insists on doing everyone's meals and God help who dares to even try to pick up a spoon. "Whatcha cooking?"

"Sit," he told her.

"Yes, Sir!"

Severus rolled his eyes but he couldn't help but smile at Ana's happier spirit. The past four days have been hard on her. She would wake up dizzy, weak and when she ate, she'd throw up everything immediately. It started in the morning when she woke up and ended when she went to sleep. One night she woke up in pain all over her body and it made her throw up and pass out. She had very few good moments, and a lot of horrible ones, and that took a toll on her usually joyful spirit. So, a good-humored Ana might be a good sign, he believed.

"I just might be the luckiest woman on the planet."

"And why is that?"

Severus served Ana with some milk and coffee, toasts, sliced strawberries, and some vitamins to help her get her strength back. Then, he returned to the stove to stir a little bit more the pudding he was cooking for Ana - since it's her favorite dessert.

"I have the most beautiful and smart wizard in the world as my boyfriend... He can take care of me, especially in the bedroom and he can cook," she explained. "Damn, I won the lottery."

Severus smirked at Ana's comment.

He sat in front of her at the table and ate his own breakfast.

"Thank you," Ana muttered.

"For what? Breakfast?"

"Not only, but also. For taking care of me."

He watched his beloved and held a hand on top of the table for Ana to grab, which she immediately did.

"In sickness and health, right?"

Ana chuckled.

"We ain't married, mister. But, yes, something like that," she replied.

"We could be married, if you wanted to," Severus said, which made Ana's smile fade away.

When Ana returned a few weeks ago and Severus told her he intended to propose, they postponed that conversation by Ana's wishes.  Not because she didn't want to marry him - in fact, that was what she wanted the most: to be connected to Severus in every way possible. However, in a worst-case scenario, the last thing she wanted was to marry him and then make him a widow. When Severus touched the subject a few nights before, Ana changed her behavior completely, not giving Severus an explanation for it. The truth is that she didn't want to tell him she had lost her hope, and this time, for good.

"What? Did I say anything wrong?"

"No, it's nothing."

"Ana...."

Severus stared at Ana with a lifted brow and she rolled her eyes, grabbing her mug and the bowl where the strawberries were served, and walked over to the sink the wash them.

"Ana," Severus walked behind Ana and grabbed her waist, turning her around to face him. "Why do you run every time I talk about marriage?"

The woman looked up at her beloved in his eyes, trying to find the right words to express her feelings, but the worry behind his dark orbs felt like daggers in her stomach.

She tried to walk away, but Severus didn't let her move and hardened his stare. This, for some reason, irritated Ana.

"Can you let me go?"

After a couple of seconds of staring down at Ana, Severus ended up letting her walk away.

She rushed to the bathroom, where she locked herself in, throwing up and silently crying, alone, on the bathroom floor.

On the other side of the door, Severus had his forehead pressed against the wooden door of the bathroom, hearing Ana's muffled cries.

Then, a tear rolled down his face too.