Meeting Patronus | A Severus Snape Love Story

Chapter 10 "Mother Tree"

That night, you can't sleep. It's about 4:30 in the morning and anxiety courses through your body. It's Sunday and you decide that you'll blow off hanging with the twins to be alone. You've been distancing yourself lately. You're depressed and you don't want to bog them down with your sadness. It's not like you can talk about it anyways.

You never expected the harsh words from Severus to throw you off so badly. It's not just what he said, but how it caused you to distance from him. It feels like you've lost a friend. You sit up and put your hair into a messy bun then throw on a pair of black joggers, a peach colored sports bra, and your white runners. Then you grab a black jacket from the coat hanger and pace out the door. You jog up the stairs and out past the corridor. The cold winter air condenses like thick smoke from your mouth with every exhale. You run along the outskirts of the campus, fueled by anger and sadness and the urge to run away from everyone. Your heart pounds in your chest as you run as fast as you can, trying to channel your energy into your feet. Cold air seeps deep into your lungs with every breath and it makes your eyes water, tears falling out of them.

You make it to the far forest path just behind Hogsmeade. The stream babbles through the snow and rocks below. You pant hard as you try to catch your breath. The sensation is somehow releasing. You can't think about Snape when your heart pounds in your ears.

The sun is just about to peak over the horizon. You continue to run aimlessly with the sole purpose of putting distance between you and Hogwarts. The further you get, the more relief you feel. Your body starts working efficiently now, like you've gone past the threshold of the running tiring you out. It feels freeing now. Then, it appears in front of you as you make it to the top of a hill. A frozen lake with the biggest tree you've ever seen oddly placed in the middle. The sight mesmerizes you, its presence powerful. Somehow, the scene relates to a deeper part of you, a lone tree in a frozen lake isolated on an island away from all the other trees.

You walk towards the edge of the lake. You take a step to test the ground. It feels solid beneath you. The tree calls to you, its aura the same color as yours. You take small steps onto the frozen lake beneath you. Some cracks in the ice startle you, but for the most part it is solid enough to walk on. You step cautiously and finally make it to the tree; It's branches bare and trunk frozen. You admire the sheer size of the tree. It feels ancient and wise. You touch the roughly textured trunk. It is probably the width of three times your arm span. Instantaneously, the tree's branches shift at your touch, startling you away as you look up. Then it freezes again. A slight ringing in your ears coaxes you back towards the tree. You lean forward again, this time stretching your arms to the sides of the tree and hugging it. You hear the branches shift again. It feels alive, like it wants to talk to you. Suddenly, you are overcome with emotion. You start to sob painstakingly loudly. The tree listens to your cries. It lets you release. The tree coaxes memories of your life to flash before your eyes in an instant. You feel everything, from the happiest of memories to your deepest traumas. It's almost as if the tree is learning about you; downloading all of your files.

You pull back, landing straight on your butt with a force. The sun is in the sky now and the tree is still again. You stumble to your feet and shuffle back across the lake, weirded out by the experience. Your mom always used to say strange things happen in nature and this is definitely one of those times.

You jog back to campus, it's now 6 am. You make it past Hagrid's hut and run alongside the tall walls of the East Towers. You turn the corner then BAM—

You're knocked onto the floor behind you as you run into something. Your bottom is taking a beating this morning. You look up, disheveled and stinging with pain only to find it wasn't a something but a someone. Not just anyone, it's your un-friendly neighborhood Potion's Professor. It's annoying how you keep bumping into him like this.