Duplicate {Severus Snape}

Chapter Twenty-Four: Reality Check

My eyes opened naturally as if I had gone to bed and woken up the next morning. Except this was very different, all the colors around me were black and white, the same color of my altered memories. I wasn't really sure were I was at first, until I sat up from the ground I was laying on, the green grass surrounded me, and above me was the whomping willow swaying to keep anything away like it always did. Voices echoing in my head were suddenly getting louder, and it was then that I realized that I was near people.

I stood quickly to my feet, brushing away the grass that was clinging to my body, apologizing at the same time. I looked up to see the people in front of me but they continued talking as if they could not hear me, and they couldnt. The people in front of me was Severus and I, talking amongst ourselves, not bothered by anything in front of them.

I suppose this is what people talk about, the out of body experience with the potion. I was going through the memories that were altered from my mind, and even though I knew I didnt remember it, it was right in front of me. The potion was filling in every blank that was taken from me, and if that true then that only meant one thing.

My mind was taken away from him when I looked back at my past self. I now understand what people meant when they said I looked happy. I sat there next to him with his arms wrapped around me completely wrapped in his affection. I had never let anyone near me like that and to see it was -- just not me. I suppose I could see why he fought so hard, he himself looked different than the man I knew at Hogwarts.

He clung to me in his grip, his face was peaceful, and in this moment I truly felt something towards him. Maybe it was because I was able to see past what I thought I knew, and the truth was being shown. They were all right. No matter what he made with Dumbledore, he looked like he was in love, and scared at the same time.  I wasnt sure yet, but somehow I knew it was going to be okay in the end.

He reached into his cloak pulling out a present, his eyes watched me intently as I unwrapped it impatiently. His hands reached up tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear as I pulled the hair pin out.

'Sunflower' I said quietly to myself.

My favorite.

I watched as I put the pin in my hair before handing him his present, and I now finally knew what he was talking about. That time we argued, he had said something about a necklace that had his wand and my wand engraved but I had no idea what he was talking about. I gave him it. This was that time, and that memory I saw. He still kept it until even now.

Suddenly, both me and Severus began to disappear like sand being blown away, and when I tried to reach for the necklace that clung to Severus it was gone, and I was standing somewhere else, in a new memory.

I could feel myself choke up but now I knew what this potion was doing. It wanted me to see what it was missing and then when it was enough, it was a new one. I began to wonder when it would stop and when I could go back to my own reality and not just the past but for now, I had to trust it. Until the end.

The moon was full and I could hear the students in the Great Hall. I could hear the laughter out by the Black Lake, one that I was not very familiar with. I walked to see Severus and I both dancing with no worries if we were being watched. My laugh echoed through the halls behind me but they remained empty. I walked slowly towards them, as I began to take off my shoes, I threw them at Severus as I ran into the cold water. He stood there watching me as I laid on my back, watching the night pass.

I stopped beside him turning towards him as his eyes stayed glued on me. He looked behind him, casting a spell under his breath, one that I was sure was to either hide us or mute us. He took off his shoes, still contemplating if he was going to dare come in the water with me. I was practically in the middle of the lake, not worried about what could possibly be out there.