The snake and the lion (Severus x OC)

Epilogue

Severus woke up suddenly, cold sweat breaking out over his body.

It took him a few seconds to orient himself in his room, and when he did, he couldn't forget the last images of his dream, nor erase his feelings about it.

Eighteen years had passed since that fateful night in which his life turned upside down, and yet, he still could not overcome the helplessness and anger he had felt. What's more, his memories came back to him stronger every night, leaving him fatigued and with a bitter taste in his mouth.

He washed his face with very cold water, trying to clear his mind, but when he looked in the mirror he couldn't deny that he was a shadow of himself; and even more so now, when eighteen years have passed since she was murdered.

The cold metal touched his chest as he sat up. He still wore Rose's ring around his neck. In its own way, it was a way of bringing her to him.

Without knowing why, an impulse led him to get dressed, eat breakfast like an automaton, go out into the street and call a taxi. The driver looked at him with a frown when he told him how far he wanted to go, but he obeyed without question, and when Severus answered him rudely, he also gave up all attempts to start a conversation and turned on the radio.

Severus entertained himself by looking out the window, not questioning his sudden decision, since he knew he couldn't back out like so many other times. He had to put an end to all those nightmares by facing his memories once and for all.

To distract himself, he glanced at the Prophet, who had arrived the day before, and read with a mixture of relief and bitterness the headlines, which still featured on the front page the events that had occurred a week ago, when The Chosen One, the Child-Who-Lived, the famous Harry Potter defeated Lord Voldemort in a duel like no other.

That particular issue of the newspaper focused on the boy's life, highlighting his exploits and inventing new ones, starting with the first, that Halloween night when he defeated his enemy for the first time.

Severus ended up crumpling the newspaper in disgust, but he couldn't help but remember the events that had happened so long ago...

***

Against all odds, after Rose's death, Severus had become Dumbledore's trusted man, and was his main spy within the dark side.

He had managed to play his role well and had made his colleagues believe that he blamed Dumbledore and the Aurors for Rose's death and had sworn to avenge her. Lucius and Bellatrix did not believe him, but they did not want to confront him either, since Voldemort had made it clear that the death eater was worthy of his trust.

The Dark Lord was not interested in listening to the absurd complaints of his followers, especially now that he was focused on the prophecy, and only cared that Severus seemed willing to do anything to betray Dumbledore.

In this way, Severus was able to pass on all the information he wanted without raising more suspicion than usual, contributing to the improvement of the methods of the Ministry, which had finally managed to reorganize itself against the death eaters.

But despite the hard pace of work and the obligations he imposed on himself, Severus' greatest obsession was the safety of the Potters.

The promise he had made in front of Rose's grave pricked his conscience every, and the death eater did everything possible to find out everything Voldemort knew about them, especially after an incident that made the couple possible representatives of the prophecy, having survived an attack by the Dark Lord three times.

Without many other options, the Potters hid in their house in Godric's Hollow, protected by the Fidelio spell, abandoning their respective jobs and distancing themselves from the Order.