Perhaps Another Time, Severus [A Severus Snape Fanfiction]

2008

A/N: Each chapter is a different year; you're going to be jumping around but I will name the chapters by the year and also put it at the top of the chapter. :)

2008

Their children's voices in the next room hummed in Shaylah's ears. She could tell they were arguing but their voices softened quickly, as they often did. Severus' hand gave hers a light squeeze, his dark eyes trained on the side of her face as she stared into the cauldron, concentrating on the bright white glow emitted from the contents as a small cloud of wispy, white smoke coiled over the rim. He brushed away the few stray hairs that had fallen over her cheek, tucking them behind her ear. Such a simple and sweet gesture, one she would miss in their time apart. Her lips curled at the corners, "Do you really think it will work this time?" She saw him nod in her peripherals and threw her arms around her husband, gripping him tightly.

Ten years, ten years since the war finished and Voldemort had won. The Boy Who Lived had not survived his final face off with the monster who had made him the Chosen One. The world had fallen into utter chaos, a post-apocalyptic shadow of its former self. Muggleborn witches and wizards were hunted and given no option to plead their case, they were murdered in the streets. Half-bloods were not treated nearly as awful, they were given the chance to marry other half-bloods, therefore producing full blooded children. Severus had played an enormous part in that. Whether his reasoning was logical or not, he was able to convince the Dark Lord, and in doing so, he had saved many lives.

He could do nothing for the Muggleborns, Voldemort refused to hear anyone's reasoning when it came to them. They were scum in his eyes, as they had always been and the Dark Lord loved nothing more than working to snuff them out.

Their children's laughter flitted between the thoughts in her head, pulling her back to the present task, their previous disagreement forgotten. The bubbling potion sat patiently, waiting for her. "Severus, I'm scared. What if it doesn't work?" she paused, sighing at the next thought she presented, "You won't know me."

His shoulders slackened beneath her own as he sucked in a harsh breath. "It has to work."

"And our children," she said with a sob, "if it works they won't exist." She was whispering now, the heavy rock in her gut chipping away at her courage.

"Perhaps they still will, in another time." His nose brushed her ear as he nuzzled his face into the crook of her shoulder, his hot breath tickling her neck. It had always been so comforting, the way he held her, but now, it was tangled with grief. They had worked so hard to build this life, to survive in the gutted version of the world around them. To provide the best variation of it they could for the children in the next room.

A soft sob slipped free as a tear trailed down her cheek, her fingers curling in the fabric of Severus' shirt. In another time the world may have another chance, but she felt she wouldn't. If she succeeded in changing the events of the past, she would lose Severus and the life they had strived for. Lives would be saved but she would never be held in those strong arms again.