His Muggle Wife (A Severus Snape Love Tale)

Chapter 1: His Meredith

"Let me go! Let me go!" she screamed as she tossed violently on their bed, waking her husband who was sleeping soundly beside her.

"Darling, wake up!" Snape shook his wife's body, trying to wake her up. Meredith's eyes were close but her hands were moving frantically as if trying to let herself loose from somebody's grip in her dream. "Meredith, wake up!" he shouted as he cupped her tear-stained face.

Meredith let out a terrified scream as she sat up, breathing heavily. Snape pulled her tightly into his arms, her head resting on his chest, murmuring words of comfort. He tucked some hair behind her ear and his fingers traced her wet face. Cold sweats ran down her face, mixing with her tears. She continued crying as if she had experienced something horribly terrifying.

"It's alright. It was only a nightmare, love," Snape assured her as he planted a kiss on her temple. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I can't remember what it was," Meredith replied, as she pulled her face from her husband's chest to face him, a tinge of honest confusion spread on her face. "I... I only remember it was terrifying, like I was physically there. But I really cannot remember what it was I saw, I can only feel the fear I felt," she added with her soft voice.

Holding her close, Snape could hear the fast beating of her heart, her breathing short and fast too. He had married this woman for almost a year now, and for all the times they had shared the bed together, never once had she had such a frightening nightmare as she had just experienced. That woman was a sound sleeper, for goodness' sake! A bomb could just explode right by her side and she would not even stir and move an inch. He held her close as she drifted back to sleep, her face buried in his chest one again, only now it was in the lying position. His arms snaked around her waist protectively. He murmured a 'goodnight' with a lingering kiss on top of her head as he heard her breathing steadily, which meant that she was now in a deep sleep. He lay awake, for the wizard in him felt something bad was coming his way. He sensed danger, but unsure of what it was. It couldn't be the Dark Lord, for he had been defeated once and for all. If only he could use magic to see what her dream was. He was, after all, one the most renowned legilimens in the wizarding world. Wait... perhaps he could... Perhaps he could break that promise he made to himself that he would leave magic for good. No, that would be a breach of privacy. He wished he could delve into the mind of this young woman he loved so dearly, and see what it was in her dream a while ago. Not that Meredith would mind considering they were now married. No, he decided against it. Magic was a life he had decided to leave for good. Magic reminded him so much of all the pain he had to suffer for what he thought was his one true love. Magic was the sore reminder of his bitter life of serving two masters, a life which had thrown him into the hatred pit in every witch and wizard's heart, except of course for Dumbledore who never, even for a fraction of a second, doubted his loyalty to him.

As the faint sound of the clock tick-tocked on their bedroom wall, Snape's mind drifted back to how he first met this woman who warmed his bed every night in his embrace.

Shortly after the battle, he left the hospital in which he was asked to recuperate, and wandered aimlessly in the street of an unfamiliar alley in a small Muggle town. For the first time in his life, he had no plan. He always had a plan before, for anything, from the simplest of things of his day to the most complicated in his life. He always had a clear vision of what he wanted to achieve. Now, he was just a pathetic wizard with no direction in life. Why would you be so stupid as to leave Hogwarts where you're always offered security, Severus? He continued moving forward, limping. The alley was vacant. Only his breathing and painful whimper could be heard as he limped forward, his hand fumbling along the wall for support. A sharp pain surged through his lower body as he noticed the wounds in his limping right leg flowing blood onto the pavement on which he trod. He wanted to cast some spell to take the pain away but he had made a solemn vow to himself before he left Hogwarts, that he would start anew without magic. He would try to live, magic-less, in the world of the Muggles he once detested. He leaned against the wall in the narrow alley, clutching his leg which was throbbing with pain. He cursed under his breath. His head bowed, his body bent. His eyes looked at the bloody pavement. He bent lower as if the pain was eased a bit that way. For the first time in his life, he felt helpless. He had no one. No one cared about him. He had no one to love and to love him back. The love he once felt in his teenage years was left unrequited. The love he once pined for had chosen another man. Why didn't you just die, Severus? Lily's long gone and you've secured the safety of her son, the son she had with the man she chose over you. For whom are you still living this pitiful life? As the internal monologue played in his head, a tear escaped his eye and fell onto... an arm.