Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

A Better Fate COMPLETE	By : FemmeBono Category: HP Canon Characters paired with Original Characters > Het - Male/Female Views: 3299 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Of Dreams and Realities
In his dreams that night Severus stood on the edge of a clearing, watching the
lady and her court as they danced around the balefire. Some couples leaped over
the flames while others, also on the fringe of the group, sneaked off into the
darkness for another kind of dance. The lights he had seen earlier flitted in
and around them all. As one flew close he was amazed to see not the Cornish
pixie that they reminded him of, but a small child, which giggled and twittered
before flying away. Musicians played a lively reel with violins, pan pipes and
bodhrans, and there, directly opposite him was Lasair, clapping her hands and
singing in time with the music. She stood as he did, at the edge of the crowd,
neither dancing nor coupling off with anyone. She was just as beautiful, if not
more so, than the other ladies present. Her face and form were a sight to
behold; through the low cut of her gown he could see the high, firm swell of her
breasts and traveling lower his eyes gathered in the luscious image of her
narrow waist and the subtle flaring of hips. Young as she looked, still with the
flush of youth on her cheeks, she was probably infinitely older than he.
Unconsciously licking his lips, Severus brought his gaze back to the comeliness
of her face, lips full and lush like berries at their peak in season, heavily
fringed lashes and deep blue eyes full of secrets. He felt a stirring in his
loins for the first time in ages, even as a male voice echoed from behind him.

"She is from an ancient line, as are they all. People who walked these
hills ages before yourself called them gods. Others called them fae."

Not wanting to tear his gaze away, Severus turned slowly to find not a man,
but a great horned stag standing regally before him. The stag, whose antlers
curved high and sharp, inclined his head as if in greeting.

"Your fate rests with them, Severus, should you so choose," the
stag's voice echoed through his head. "It is always a matter of choice, for
your fate rests in your own hands."

"How could I marry?" he said, voicing his concerns for the first
time. "Whomever they choose, how could I possibly expect to love, or more
importantly to be loved by someone I barely know. What's more, I did love
once and it nearly killed me. When I lost her I thought my very soul would be
crushed by the weight of my grief... and my guilt."

"Yet your love, boy, was that of a selfish nature. It is quite often
crushing and never the freeing feeling that so often comes with true love. And I
can tell you this for nothing, for I am a traveler between the veil of life and
death, she forgives you any transgression you may have made out of ignorance of
youth. Her blood is not on your hands, son. It was not your choice to fell her,
after all.

I will tell you this as well: true love is yours if you take it. There is
someone out there for your very own who will give you her all and inspire the
best out of you. You can find her if you are willing to look into yourself,
discover who you truly are and what you are worth, and heal."

With that, the stag turned and with a bounding leap, disappeared into the
forest. Severus raced after him, wanting to ask how he would even begin to do
such a thing, but to no avail. Everywhere he looked was darkness and just the
beginning of a dirt path. He traced the path deftly for having to move in such
pitch dark, his long legs covering the ground in great strides. Looking hither
and yon for any sign of the stag, he was amazed to have circled right back
around to the clearing. As one of the ladies in front of him turned around, he
found himself face to face with Lasair. Smiling as she twirled an oak leaf
between her fingers, Lasair offered it to him. When he took it, she laughed
once, a tinkling sound that blended with the music of chimes and bells on the
wind, and blew him a kiss.

"Come with us, Severus. You will find a power beyond any you've seen in
your previous life."

Before he could reply he shot upright in bed, even as the first rays of light
crested over the hill under which he slept. He glanced around, pondering the
strange dream as he remembered the events of the evening before. He was in the
room one of the servants had taken him to, and his stomach grumbled. Voldemort
was dead, all of the magical world surely still celebrated this, and here he was
in a world unlike any other he had seen, where the line between dreams and
reality blurred. For there, on the embroidered coverlet, was the thing Lasair
had given him in his sleep. A single, green oak leaf.
***
Breakfast that morning consisted only of Cailleach, Lasair, and Severus.
Cailleach informed him that many of the revelers from the night before were
still sleeping off the effects of their celebrations. Rather than ask what
Severus had decided, the lady seemed to take for granted that he had consented
to go. He sensed somehow that his dream actions of the night before had been seen as an
acceptance on his part. There, as in myth, he departed after the stag--a symbol
for the hunt and the beginnings of a quest. He did not stop to consider the
ramifications of that path ending with him seeing Lasair, but instead focused on
the fact that as she asked him to go and offered the leaf, he had without
hesitation taken it. And so he said nothing as time and again, servants
approached the table as they ate, clarifying Cailleach's instructions or
informing her of how the preparations for Lasair's and Severus' departure were
progressing. By the time they finished the meal, two horses had been loaded and
stood ready with provisions for the journey.

They exited the cave through another winding tunnel, coming out on the
opposite side they had entered from the day before. Cailleach kissed them both
good-bye, clasping their hands.

"Well and merry we part until we meet again," she said, her eyes
filling as she smiled wistfully. "Fare you well and may the road rise to
meet you. You will return here, my Severus for your marriage one year
hence." With that, she slapped his horse's flank as Lasair cantered away,
waving merrily.

"On we get, dear Severus. For by the time the sun has begun to make its
descent we will be home.. in the Forest of Scathach."

"And where is that exactly?" he asked tersely, already regretting
their choice of conveyance, even though they clipped along at an easy walk. It
had been years since he had ridden.

"To the northwest," she replied simply.

"Really, there's not much left unless it's under the Atlantic."

"I shall stop you before you hit water, I promise," she said,
laughing gaily. "Come now, Severus, where is your sense of adventure?"

"A desire for adventure is more a Gryffindor trait...," he began,
before he realized she may not understand the reference.

"Oh, but therein lies the problem with part of your conditioning. That
is the trouble with your school's house system in fact. It's all too vague, too
generalistic, as though people--even children, mind you--have only one
personality trait within them. Take yourself for example: true you have the
instincts and self-preservation of the wily serpent, yet you also have the heart
and courage of a lion, the loyalty of your Hufflepuffs even, and the exhaustive
wit and intelligence of your Ravenclaws. At our own school we seek out such
traits not to divide and categorize but to hone the strengths and whittle away
the weaknesses. Those who excel in certain areas take it upon themselves to help
those who do not."

Having no rejoinder for this, Severus lapsed into silence. Lasair, who seemed
as comfortable in the quiet as she did in the conversation, breathed deeply and
tilted her head to the stray shafts of sunlight peaking through the branches
overhead, before breaking off into a trot that urged Severus to heel his horse's
flank. And so they rode for hours, until the midday sun was high overhead. When
at last they came upon the swell of a mountain stream, the duo dismounted and
led the horses to drink. Lasair reached into one of the saddlebags to find a
gourd of water and two large leather pouches filled with a loaf of brown bread,
a soft wedge of cheese and some fruit. They ate slowly, standing to stretch
their legs. Severus longed to rub his backside, but refused to do it in front of
the girl who kept shooting him sly glances as though she knew where his thoughts
were. When they were suitably rested, the pair mounted up once again and
splashed across the stream onto what appeared to be a well-worn riding path.

Barely a half hour had passed before Severus felt the uneasy urge to look
over his shoulder. The hairs on the back of his neck rose ominously, and he
reached into the sleeve of his frock coat for the security of his wand. Glancing
furtively through the underbrush on either side of the path, he whispered to
Lasair, who had tensed in her saddle.

"I have the distinct feeling we're being watched."

"I know," she replied, dropping back to walk beside him to keep the
conversation from carrying. "I feel it too; this forest has eyes and
ears."

No sooner had the words left her mouth, than two figures leapt from the
canopy of trees overhead, knocking them both to the ground. Severus and Lasair
both tucked and rolled, coming to stand behind each other, Severus with his wand
aloft and Lasair, both hands holding balls of flame she had summoned from thin
air. Without a word, they unleashed on their attackers. Severus flicked a Stunning
spell at the one he faced, a russet-haired man in green garb. The ginger
deflected it with his bare hand, causing Severus to fling up a Shield charm to
protect him from his own work. Lasair, meanwhile had lobbed both fireballs at
her attacker only to have them dissipate into steam as two great jets of water
met them in midair. And so they met each other match for match, until Severus
sent a volley of leaves fluttering into his opponent's face, then took advantage
of his attempt to settle them by hauling the man upside down with a Levitation
spell. He spun in time to see Lasair trap her adversary by opening the earth
under the man's feet, only to seal it back with him trapped halfway below
ground. As the two struggled to free themselves a commanding voice declared from
the edge of the forest.

"Enough!" said the woman, waving a hand and releasing the two men
at once. "Well done, to you both," she said with the smile of a
satisfied general inspecting her troops. She looked to be a woman well out of
her childrearing years, with dun-colored hair shot through with streaks of
silver and a warrior's garb of thick leather hides over a russet tunic and skin
breeches. She approached Lasair, first clasping her hand before drawing her into
a fierce hug. "Welcome home, daughter."

"Mmm... Ma," Lasair smiled as the woman kissed her forehead.
"I just knew it!"

"Welcome, Severus, to my forest," she said moving to him. "I
am Scathach, warrior and teacher of the martial arts of the sidhe. You have done
well for your first test."
-------

Pronunciation:

bodhran-- BAU-run

Scathach-- Scoth-OCK
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A Better Fate *COMPLETE*

A Better Fate COMPLETE