Soul of Ice

28. Persephone's Temptation

It had been a week since Severus had last seen Persephone - unless he counted the moments she was asleep and he was awake. She was working constantly, stopping in their shared chambers only to sleep. When she was eating, he had no idea; he hadn't been able to excuse himself from dinner in the Great Hall once, and he had to endure sitting in the noisy hall three times a day, pretending to listen to his colleagues' inane chatter.

Once Friday came around, Severus was determined not to miss her. With plenty of marking and lesson planning to be done, he had no issue keeping himself occupied as he stayed up late, hoping she'd come back sooner rather than later. The hours ticked by, and by the time five am came around, Persephone still wasn't there and Severus could hardly keep his eyes open. He finally admitted defeat and climbed into bed, hoping she would stick around in the morning for the weekend.

Severus was so exhausted that, for the first night in a long time, he fell asleep without clearing his mind. Nor had he taken the Potion for Dreamless Sleep, or any of the other rituals he usually engaged in to keep the nightmares at bay. He didn't even have Persephone beside him to ground him; it was just himself and the empty dungeon.

Fortunately, tonight his mind didn't see fit to haunt him with nightmares. He saw no visions of his father looming over him, or the Dark Lord destroying everything precious to him, or James Potter laughing as he ran, naked and wandless, through a forest, ever pursued by an angry wolf. Those recurring nightmares had given him a reprieve for once. Instead, Severus had a dream he hadn't dreamt in a long time.

He dreamt of Lily. They were back in the old park in Cokeworth, sitting side-by-side on the swing, but they were adults now. A storm raged beyond the gates, but safe inside the confines of the rubber-floored playground, Severus and Lily remained untouched by the rain. He looked over at her, but she was staring pointedly up at the sky, as if searching for something. Then, she began to swing, higher and higher, just as she had the day he'd met her. But somehow Severus knew it wouldn't be so safe this time. He knew if she fell, she wouldn't be able to land so gracefully.

He tried to warn her, but she didn't seem to hear. Lily just kept swinging, higher and higher, until the inevitable happened and she swung off her seat. Severus dived to catch her and she landed face-down on top of him, winding him with a grunt.

"Lil," he muttered, trying to push her off of him, but she just laughed playfully, refusing to get up. Her long, red hair fell onto his face, and he felt a stirring between his legs. More than that; although neither of them made a movement, he could feel a familiar sensation between his legs, as if he were fucking her without either of them doing anything. He tried again to push her off, panicking - he didn't want to be doing this - what if Persephone saw? Or Potter?

Then, the scene went dark, but Severus could still feel her weight on top of him, her walls moving around him, and he began to protest. "Lily -"

The movement stopped then. Blinking, Severus opened his eyes, and it took him a few moments to adjust to the change in scenery. He was somewhere dark, cold - the figure on top of him was taller than Lily, her hair lighter.

The figure sat up, and the small amount of light illuminating the scene from a candle showed Persephone, sitting upright, staring at him with a frown.

"What did you just say?"

Finally, Severus' brain caught up with reality. The sexual feelings he'd felt in his dream had been real; Persephone had taken him inside her as he slept. Still fast asleep, his brain had conflated reality with his dream.

"Sephy..." Severus mumbled, sitting up, still slightly delirious.

"No," she said slowly, "that wasn't it."