Mended

Seventeen

Two days before Christmas, the hordes of people lining the streets of Diagon Alley are nauseating. People shout, bump into one another, packages zoom in and out of shops, owls and children screech all around you. Inside of the shops is no better, everyone is shoulder to shoulder, scrambling to find any last-minute gift, it didn't even matter what they were buying at that point.

She should have done this weeks ago, she tells herself that every year, and yet, every year she puts herself in this exact situation. Of course, the previous years she had no idea that there was a vault of gold with her name on it at her disposal. The vault and the gold are still there, only a short walk away. Danu looks over her shoulder, through the fat, wet snowflakes dancing in the air, and towards Gringotts Wizarding Bank; her marble walls looming above every other shop, casting dark shadows in the snow.

Severus had told her that there was a lifetime's worth of gold kept safe within her vault, yet she did not know the exact number, had never even stepped foot inside of the vault. Danu had gone there after he had told her that he had left it for her, but only for confirmation from the goblin at the front desk. When he had been bitten, he had left a note explaining that the vault was hers but had been under the impression that he had changed it back to his own name once he began working at Saint Mungo's, and since he had not left the key when he had left her, she had been certain that it no longer belonged to her. While Severus lie unconscious at Saint Mungo's following the war, Danu survived solely on what meager amount of gold Severus had kept in a leather pouch atop the mantle in the headmasters quarters, and food that Harry had brought her from Molly. Since she had begun working, her wages were handed to her each week in a small cloth sack and were usually long gone by the beginning of the next week, making a trip to Gringotts to safely store it redundant. She truly had no idea what Severus finances looked like, before or after the war. Surely, a professors salary was not enough to last someone a lifetime, despite the nearly twenty years he had been employed at Hogwarts, and she knew from poverty-stricken town that they each hailed from that the home on Spinner's End which she sold going on three years ago now was the only form of inheritance he had received. For whatever reason that Severus was keeping to himself, he was adamant that she quit her job and stay home with Lorna. She had already stepped away from her night job after Severus had accused her of not spending enough time with Lorna, and money was tight.

Severus had been apparating back to the cottage every evening after Lorna was put down for bed and staying the night with her since the first time he had stayed two weeks prior. Last night, however, the two had argued, and he went home, only to return the following morning with a scowl, only two minutes before she was meant to be at work. He hadn't said a single word to her as she rushed past him to apparate to Diagon Alley.

It had been a normal evening; Danu bathed Lorna, gave her a snack, allowed her to marvel at the Christmas tree with bright baubles and colorful lights that Severus had helped her decorate two weeks prior, tucked her into bed with Simon and Bram, and read her to sleep. As she creeps down the stairs, she is met with a dark, looming figure stoking the fire. Danu smiles to herself and makes her way to the kitchen to pour a glass of red wine. She did not drink, not since the indecent at Hogwarts years before, but a glass of wine now and then would not hurt anything, and it truly was rare that she indulged.

Danu pours a light hand of the burgundy liquid, only filling the glass a quarter of the way full, three swigs and it would be gone, and then she would retire for the night. The fear of the addiction that consumed her while attempting to learn more of her past ate at her, preventing her from ever reaching out for the bottle after her glass had been drained, no matter how badly she wanted to some days. She makes her way to the sofa and plops down, propping her aching feet on the coffee table in the process. She sighs and turns towards Severus who was now taking his seat next to her. Before she can say a word, a strange look crosses Severus' face as he raises one eyebrow at her, she furrows hers in response.