Golden Age by black_blade

Chapter 37: Fix up

A/N: This was a loose end that was annoying the shit out of me. So here you go.
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The sound of snoring woke Severus and he rolled over to find Harry sprawled out on his back beside him. He slept the sleep of a man that had eaten too much cake and drank too much alcohol but Severus couldn't blame him. It had been his birthday after all. Severus gently wiggled to the side of the bed and sat up, the blanket pulling away from him and he shivered as the cold air touched his bare skin. He glanced back over at Harry but the man slept on, normally he was a light sleeper but Severus knew that enough alcohol could make him almost comatose.

Severus huffed in amusement as he pulled himself from the bed and took in the crescent moon through the window. He tugged on the curtains to block the little sun that they would receive in the morning before he headed to the bathroom. Something had been nagging at his mind and after he used the toilet and washed his hands, he walked into the lounge room instead of the bedroom. He walked over to his jacket that he'd thrown over the back of the lounge after they'd gotten back to their rooms that night. He snagged it up and slipped his hand into one of the pockets and fished around for the gold marble.

His fingers found the item and he flicked on a light to have a look at it in detail. There were runes etched into the gold but he wasn't as fluent as he would have liked on them. Harry had been trying to teach him but it was a complex branch of magic. But he didn't need to know what was on the gold marble to know that there was something about it that made his insides squirm. Not like a dark item but something similar. He placed the marble back into his pocket and with a shiver he walked back to the bedroom to dress.

He knew that his mind wouldn't settle until he had dealt with this problem. Harry still lay on his back and his snores made Severus shake his head. Only when the man drank too much did he snore that loudly. He dressed quickly and toed into his shoes before picking up his jacket and swung it around his shoulders. He carefully eased the door open to the hallway but he knew from the snores that Harry wouldn't wake.

He headed off down the corridor, the shadows casting an eerie presence over the castle. Severus had lived in the castle long enough to ignore the moving people in the pictures and the suits of armour that cast human shape shadows into the hallways but tonight felt different. There seemed to be heavy feeling to the air around him. A feeling of anticipation that Severus couldn't understand and yet he did. Something drove him on.

His hand found the gold marble in his pocket and his fingers ran over the runes that he could feel, subconsciously. It was almost a relief to arrive at the entrance hall and the front doors of the castle. He took care as he opened the large door and stepped out. The soft boom of the doors closing felt very final to him as his eyes ran over the shadows before him.

The soft light of the moon was enough for him to navigate with as he headed towards the greenhouses. His feet knew where he was going but it didn't stop the shiver running down his back as the shadows within the greenhouses made it look like there were people inside. He didn't hurry, Severus Snape did not let his imagination push on his fears of what he knew were plants and not some kind of shadow monsters.

However, when the sight of the stone well appeared before him his stepped slowed and he almost turned back. His hand clenched around the marble and he pressed on. He felt like eyes were on his back and expectations on his shoulders as the moonlight picked out the pale stones of the well in sharp details. Everything else seemed to fade away as Severus came to a stop. He could almost feel a hand on his back and he gritted his teeth. He did not like to be pushed and yet, he wanted this.

He pulled out the gold marble once more and that strange feeling came back to him. The gold shone in the pale light and Severus almost fumbled it in his haste. He clenched his fist and took a calming breath.

"This is supposed to be," Severus said to the night.

Nothing answered him back which he was thankful for. He took another step forward then stuck his hand out over the gaping hole of the well. He wasn't one to be taken in with superstition or omens and yet the night seemed to hold its breath. Everything waiting for him before it progressed forward. Even Severus felt his own breath hitch before he cursed himself.

His hand shook as he held it out before he unclenched his fingers. The gold marble dropped, it seemed to hang in the air for a longer time then he would have thought was necessary, before it fell into the darkness. His eyes locked on that abyss as it silently swallowed the gold marble and the world waited, as he did, for it to land. For a soft 'plop' to sound as it hit water or a clatter as it hit stone but it didn't come.

Severus never heard it hit the bottom of the well as the world took a breath and life moved on but he knew that everything had changed. He quirked a smile and turned away from the stone well and made him way back to the man that he loved. The world felt right once more.