The Serpent and the Lioness

Chapter 21

"Let's...take it inside." Hermione's voice was barely that of a whisper, her hand coming to rest gently on his bicep.

She could feel so many things in that moment, the weight of which made her want to collapse. Then, she saw it, the faintest of shines against his cheek. She shifted just a hair closer, her wand adjusting as she moved. Her breath caught in her throat as the solitary tear ran down the man's face. So pure, so excruciating. She wanted nothing more than to take it all away. To take him far away, send him back in time, anything to reset his godforsaken life.

It was all too much. A sob clenched her throat tight. A burning hand was wrapping around her heart, like an infuno of raw emotion, it twisted all the sorrow into a deep anger. She would cry for him, she would weep all the tears he would never have allowed himself to shed. Leaning up further on her knees she pressed her forehead against his shoulder.

The hand tightened and she could feel his anger boiling to the surface. It was his defense against the world. His harsh tongue and shields. Closing her eyes, her hand ran under his arm and to his chest, gentle fingers slipped effortlessly through the buttons of his shirt and onto his pale skin beneath. She felt a soft shock as her fingers touched the line over his heart and she had to close her eyes to keep herself grounded as she let all his pain and anger roll through her frame.

He didn't move away but his face had fallen with his eyes when he registered her weight rest against him. His brow furrowed as he felt all the years of pain and regret, all the anger that threatened to blow the entire barn into pieces, wash from his frame like a cleansing summer rain. He lowered his head as if in prayer and pressed his cheek atop her head closing his eyes as he allowed her to take what so many had given him.

When she shuddered silently against him, he made to pull away, he knew she couldn't handle it, handle him. To his surprise, she only held him tighter, her hand never leaving his heart as a new swell of power arched between them.

His eyes searched the heavens for answers. How could a man who had known him so little, care for him so much as to leave something so heartfelt behind? How could this woman who had known so little, come to care for him so strongly? His eyes lost their focus as another tear fearlessly ran down his cheek.

Could he truly be redeemed for all the wrongs he had done? Could his life truly be something more than solitude and loneliness?

The fear that would have normally accompanied those thoughts washed from him into the ethereal and a weight lifted from his heart that he hadn't known to even be there. His eyes closed tightly as he bowed his head, the hand that held his heart pressed such power inside him.

A soft golden glow had joined them and it was growing stronger, weaving its way like a creeping spider's web up her arm and around their bodies. Just like he had seen before in her mind when they had joined their consciousness together, their souls were dancing.

Her eyes were so gentle, so kind as he dared to look upon her face. Severus knew he didn't deserve someone such as this in his life but he found all his resolve crackling along its edges when she smiled through her tears and gently thumbed away his own. He felt something spark inside his heart, a feeling that was as powerful as it was terrifying.

Without a single protest, Severus allowed himself to be guided back to his feet. The was trunk shrunk down and led from the barn. The hand that guided him was warm and strong.

Hermione guided him back inside the house turning to take both of his hands as she led him into the small sitting room. He allowed himself to be guided to the small couch without a single complaint or reprimand and when she moved to sit, he made no comment as she pulled him down to rest against her.