Soon All the Suns Will Rise

Where All the Veins Meet

Chapter Title from "Bittersweet Symphony" by the Verve.

Excerpts from "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling.

This and the next few chapters will contain some overlapping events from the final battle, as I'll be giving you multiple points of view.

*** The Battle of Hogwarts***
POV: Rhiannon
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Rhiannon's arms encircled her husband's waist, the thick layers of wool warm beneath her embrace. Her cheek rested against his broad back, and she became acutely aware again of the rhythm of his heart, steady and strong in spite of the tension in his frame as he stared out the Headmaster's office window. The trees waved their lush spring branches in the night's gentle breeze, accented by an eerie crescent of light. Life on the grounds itself seemed ripe with a hush anticipation.

"Severus, should you try to get some sleep?" she suggested softly, nuzzling her face back and forth across his back. Her palms squeezed themselves to his chest, relishing in the feeling of his sturdiness against the backdrop of dread hanging in the air.

"I should," he muttered. "But I won't."

Rhiannon knew that would be his answer. "What about food? You got all those things from the elves for Sirius and Colleen, but you barely touched your own plate. I could cast a charm to re-warm it?"

Severus shook his head slowly, and Rhiannon dropped back into silence, the only sound his heartbeat against her ear once again.

Thump thump. Thump thump.

"When I have left for the battle, you are to act according to your own intuition and not out of loyalty to me," he finally said after ages had seemingly passed. "You will do whatever is needed to ensure your safety and that of our child."

"Of course, Severus."

"I mean it," he insisted, turning away from the window to face her instead. "I want you to trust your instincts. I know I've always told you to use your mind, to consider the logical path, to be wary of consequences, but tonight I want you to trust your inner voice. You're a mother now — it will steer you far better than I can."

Rhiannon gave him a small smile, knowing how hard it was for Severus to acknowledge something like that. He looked down at her somberly, his hair falling in soft waves, his eyes encircled with dark strain, his very soul weary beneath their tired shadows.

"I love you, Severus," she whispered. "So much." Her lips captured his before he could reply— soft, pure, and honest as they twisted with his— flowing over his face like spoken words but in a mystical language far more powerful than any voice could utter. His strong hands gripped her arms, holding her firmly to him but not seeking any kind of sexual gratification or moving to give pleasure, their only purpose to keep her still while their kiss tried to transmit enough love to see them through the night, the next day, the week— whatever fate had in store.

When Severus finally broke away for a breath, his voice cracked under the weight of the "I love you, too," that escaped his lips. Rhiannon's eyes welled up with tears and she sobbed into his black lapel, the drops disappearing into the woven fibers. Her forehead brushed against a lump beneath his cloak, and she startled.

"It's your mother's talisman," he explained. "Colleen insisted I wear it until the war is over. Apparently she has a rather nagging intuition as well."

Rhiannon nodded, sniffing back further tears. "Then listen to her and keep it on. She felt a power from it that you, Sirius, and I couldn't feel. You said my father didn't even feel it. I told her Muggles must be more sensitive. But she's a mother too, and her instincts are to protect her family. Which includes you."