Severus and the Frozen North

The Mistress' Memories

*trigger/content warning for descriptive violence ahead*

July 2002

Heart pounding, he looked across the room at Kora, hair held back in her signature jeweled clip, widows peak more prominent than usual, apron tied around her, concentrating deeply on the insect repellent.

"Why are you staring?" she demanded without looking up, leaving the liquid to simmer.

"I have something that I need to tell you...But, it's rather important" he started out cautiously, realizing now that she may be furious that he involved himself and another stranger in such a private part of her life

Putting the repellent into stasis, she took off the apron and gloves and sat beside him at the kitchen table. Her perfume wafted over him, vanilla, honey, and rose. A disarmingly sweet scent for such a sharp and strong woman.

"Will I need tea or whiskey?" she joked, settling back into her chair, summoning both the remaining tea from the pot and the whiskey on the counter

"Possibly both. I need to preface this with the fact that I started this journey with the best of intentions" he began, watching her face muddle in confusion

"Go on..." she encouraged, inching a little closer

"Remember when you told me about your husband. And the ring? I asked a friend for help and...They found your husbands ring" he dove right in, knowing there was no gentle way to do this

Her fists instantly clenched as she sat up straighter, speaking through tightened teeth

"Who gave you any right or permission to go searching for that?! Or to tell anyone about what I told you in confidence!"

"I know what it's like to not get closure. And how it claws at you and it feels as if you'll never be whole again..." he spoke quickly, preparing himself for another offensive attack

She immediately shook her head to the side, arguing in disbelief

"There's no way. I spent literal years searching for that ring Severus. I went to different countries. I went shop to shop. It's no where and you expect me to believe that your 'friend' found it, in what, seven months?"

He held out the small burlap packet, heavy with the weighty ring. She stared at it for several seconds before taking it

"We'll see if your friend's time was worth it..."

Flipping the packet upside down near the table top, a silver ring slid out with a thud, the fine etchings making their way around it like branches. She gasped, hands to her mouth, staring wide eyed as if it were a unicorn or other rare creature.

"Would you like some time alone?" he asked delicately, unsure of the convention for this type of situation

"No. Stay. If this is truly his ring, it will speak the last words that he wanted me to hear when I put it on my finger" she told him, voice traipsing between excited and nervous

"I don't think I should hear that" he protested, not wanting to hear the private thoughts of a husband to his wife

"Probably not. But I want you to" she assured him, breathing deeply through her nose and out her mouth as she slipped the ring onto her thumb

Immediately, the ring lit up, a vision of sorts floating up from the silver, as if he were watching a Muggle movie.

Akos' face came into view, causing Kora to gasp, tears free-falling down her cheeks as he began to speak in a smooth tenor of quickly paced Hungarian. Severus watched as Kora's eyes never left his face, her small hands reaching out to touch him but only passing through vapor. The message wasn't incredibly long, two minutes, but in those two minutes he watched as Kora smiled and laughed in a way he had never seen. The laugh of familiarity and ease. The vision disappeared, with the ring still on her finger.