The Next Generation of Wizards

Chapter 16-The Secret

Rose's POV:

We stand there, paralysed. The sight before us is simply too much, to painful to see. A sudden urge to hug Snape comes over me. He's lying there on the floor, so vulnerable, so fragile, so... human. His terrifying grin has been wiped off his face, replaced by a trail of tears falling down the side of his face. A red trail has recently been created on the floor, for, as he clutches the picture in his hands, the broken pieces of glass are cutting deep into his flesh. 

And it is only then than I manage to solve the enigma. 

Snape was Lilly's and Professor Severus' illegitimate son, thus making him uncle Harry's brother. He was now wearing for his mother's death, secretly jealous of Albus' father's bright future. It should've been him. He should've been loved by Lilly, should've become her little boy. Instead, he had been forced to hide, had been neglected by his father, had been brought up by Professor McGonagall. It seems like he has been living in this 'room of requirements' for as long as he can possibly remember, and his lifetime of loneliness was slowly turning into despair. 

As if on cue, he turns around and stares at us, a terrifying look of surprise plastered on his face. His puffy, red eyes, are enough to make me forget everything I have so unfairly judged him for. Right here, right now, lays a solitary man in desperate need for love. He is reaching out for me, and something tells me that if I decide to leave him hanging there, I will never forgive myself for it. Scorpious must've felt or thought something similar for there he is, helping him up, gesturing me to help him place Snape on the bed. 

A simple healing spell allows me to rapidly close his cuts, though I am afraid it is too simple to close the deep wounds inside. It is then that the boy beside me begins to brew some sort of sleeping potion, and then forces the old man to drink it all. A few minutes later, he falls into what we believe is a peaceful sleep. However, as we are about to leave, he mutters "Stay with me, please. I can't go through this alone". 

Holding his hands, laying in bed beside him, I realise that we are now part of a big secret, one that has been kept this way for almost four decades, one that we would both take to our graves. 

Looking at Scorpious, I suddenly find myself falling for him, I learn of my desire to kiss those pale lips, of my longing to be with him. 

That night, we don't kiss, don't even hug, but as we leave the room, a silent vow is created, a promise of some kind; one that will bring us close than ever.